


Moonlighting

by Shootmewithasilverbullet



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Connor smells real fucking good, Human!Connor, M/M, Ritual Murder, The Werewolve AU no one asked for, Werewolf Prejudice, at least humans have something else to be racist against other than themselves, because its Gavin okay, gory details, human beings are absolute dicks, human on werewolf violence, instincts getting in the way of everything, its so distracting, like real good, murder stuff, or trying to anyways, self hatred, so many werewolf tropes, solving a murder, werewolf hirearchy, werewolf pack politics, werewolf!Gavin, why does he smell so good
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-02
Updated: 2019-02-27
Packaged: 2019-08-14 12:38:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16492766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shootmewithasilverbullet/pseuds/Shootmewithasilverbullet
Summary: Instead of androids, it's werewolves, and they've been around a long time, are everywhere. They could be your neighbour, a coworker. You just don't know.Gavin's trying to solve a murder and shit just never goes his way. He's got a new partner, which is a terrible problem because Connor is fucking adorable at the best of times, and navigating werewolf culture is exhausting, and mix that with his own instincts getting in the way of functioning like a regular human being and its just a shit show. But what else is new.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Much anticipated werewolf AU no one wanted! 
> 
> Thank you so much to Unacceptable-Bisexual for being there from the beginning and encouraging me to write this, as well as Adiblin on Tumblr for Beta'ing at the last minute and offering up some really valuable pointers that made this chapter so much better than it was.
> 
> Thanks to everyone that threw out their woof headcannons when I asked for help, and to everyone who showed their support in regards to this idea. Y'all are awesome!

The smell of blood was thick in the air; heavy and overpowering and it would've driven most mad or sick by now, but Gavin was used to it. Blood was the kind of smell that distracted; it coated everything like an oil, made it impossible to scent anything else, and tainted most things in the area. Very little of this crime scene would ever retain its original scent, which was exactly the reason why it had been so violent, or so Gavin guessed. What a pissoff. 

The body was practically in pieces, held together by thin ligaments and leftover muscle and worst of all, it felt as if it had been left on display for them to find. The unidentified man, maybe? Woman? Honestly Gavin couldn't tell what gender the victim was at this point, just that they'd been torn open, organs displayed in some kind of disgusting ritualistic way that made no sense to him yet.

Gavin stepped around the mess, trying to keep his boots on the clean patches of floor but even those were few and far between. The body itself was splayed open right in the center of the living room, obviously moved there and displayed the way it was on purpose. A smeared trail of blood from the kitchen was enough evidence to confirm that the victims body had been dragged to where it currently was and the gory mess had been enacted right in the middle of the room. The organs; heart, lungs, intestines, stomach, liver - all major ones, where displayed in a circle around the body and Gavin's own stomach knotted uncomfortably at the sight. Rib bones had been removed from the body; snapped from the rib cage itself if the jagged edges were any indication. The rib bones were meticulously arranged around the organs, with purpose. It was fucken creepy and Gavin didn't understand it, but he doubted he was meant to. 

Kneeling down beside the body, Gavin was careful not to touch, or step on anything. The last thing he needed were his own footprints mucking up the crime scene or getting mixed in with evidence. He fished his phone from his jacket pocket, tapping the screen until the camera came up and tried to get as much detail into his pictures as he could. The jagged edges of the broken rib bones, the gaping exposed hole where the victims chest had been. There were huge angry red gashes across blood stained skin that Gavin hadn't seen until now. He clicked at his phone to get a picture before hesitating, sliding his phone back into his pocket before holding his hand above the marks. They were bigger, wider, but clearly scratches made by something larger than a person. 

His stomach was sick because of the blood, the body, the pieces. The complete disregard for life. Nothing about this murder was right. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it besides the strange ritual-esk display. Gavin sat back on his heels and took a few more photos of the body before pulling himself back up. He stepped around the blood and peices, turning his camera to the rest of the house, and it wasn't any better. All the furniture had been pushed back against the walls and torn apart. The couch was shredded to peices, the fabric was soaked and dripping in blood and the marks were just as large as the ones on the body. A long coffee table had been flipped up on its side, and Gavin nudged it over a bit with his boot so he could get a look at the tabletop, kneeling down with his camera to take another picture. It looked like wax drippings on the top, but he couldn't be too sure without touching it, and from what he could see it didn't look like there were any candles in the room. At least not anymore. 

Gavin took another couple pictures before moving to the kitchen, his stomach twisting sickly. The kitchen was only marginally better than the living room in that there wasn't a body. There had been a fight, the kitchen table had the broken into peices and was scattered across the floor and the back door was open, hanging half off its hinges as if it had been pulled clean off the side of the house. There was a knife on the ground, less blood on the floor besides the drag marks into the other room, spatter spots against the wall and some plain white candles on the counter. The knife on the ground was coated in blood, dried now, but still visible. Had the victim fought back or had the knife been used by the killer? Gavin took a picture of the knife, the bloody trail leading to the living room and the back door, moving out into the back yard. The fresh air was a relief, even if all he could smell right now was blood. 

It was too bad, the back yard didn't look altered at all. The fence around the property looked undamaged, the gate was closed and latched, and the lawn furniture was set up on the stone patio, and it was pretty clean and undamaged besides the basic wear and tear. His suspect had gotten into the yard without forcing his way in, and then had broken into the house from here. He walked the perimiter of the fence slowly, stopping at the gate when he reached it and used his phone to slide the latch open easily and the gate creaked open. Glancing down at his feet, Gavin frowned. There was a stone path from the gate to the patio to the door, and it didn't look like there were footprints besides his own around the yard in the grass. Too fucken bad. 

It didn't look like there as anything else in the yard so Gavin took a breath and went back into the house. The second time inside was almost worse. Gavin squeezed the bridge of his nose and stepped over a blood spot on the floor, moving towards to counter and the candles. The wicks looked burnt and the colour was the same as the wax he'd found in the living room, and the implications pointed towards more creepy rituals. Candles? Weird bone patterns? Organ removal? Gavin was almost a hundred percent sure this was some kind of occult shit which was real fucken shitty because he hated all that weird stuff. Why would it be an easy, clean murder when it could be difficult Satan worshipping cult bullshit. Some kind of Cthulhu crap maybe or whatever the kids all worshiped these days. God fucking damnit. 

The rest of the house hadn't seen much action, at least not from the murderer. It was clean and organized, and it gave the impression of what the house should have looked like before shit had hit the fan. There were pictures on the walls, happy family photos, and even with those Gavin wasn't sure which member of the family was on the floor in the living room. He also wasn't sure exactly where the rest of the family was right now, because there was only one body. His gut twisted up at he prospect of more bodies piling up so fast, because it wouldn't be as simple as daddy killing mommy or vice versa. 

Gavin turned around, taking a breath and moving back through the house and slipping out the front door and into fresher outside air again. Fuck. It was never fucking easy. 

It was busy outside of the house, lots of activity as officers worked in gathering statements, clearing the perimeter, and waiting for the forensics lab to show up. Gavin noticed a few people bent over, heaving and he didn't blame them. The Detroit PD hadn't dealt with something this gruesome in a long time and a lot of the officers here hadn't had an opportunity to experience some of the more explicit murders that could happen in the city. 

Then again, Gavin acted tough but this was the worst thing he'd laid eyes on since he joined the DPD, and the only reason why he _wasn't_ throwing up all over his boots was sheer force of will. And pride. Gavin had a lot of that. 

What the fuck was he supposed to do with this shitstorm. Fuck. 

Murder was one thing, but murder involving a werewolf as the actual murderer? Because that's what had done this, Gavin didn't need a forensics lab to tell him that. A big old angry dog with teeth and claws and better arm strength than a regular man. The weird thing was, this kind of shit didn't happen, at least not this way. It was usually a dead werewolf, victim of some hate crime, because human beings hated things they didn't understand, and they definitely did not understand werewolves and werewolves were, for the most part, not used to fighting back against regular people. When it did happen this way, with a human as the victim, it was rare and difficult to solve because... Well, wolf packs kept such tight ties with their pack members, it was usually really hard to get them to admit it even happened. Cooperation was stupidly difficult to get and Gavin would know that better than anyone because he was exactly that; a werewolf. 

Humans and werewolves had only been aware of each other for around two decades. Two long decades of dealing with harsh prejudice and a lot of demanding basic rights. It wasn't a lot of time to hash out important details like how to deal with a murderous animal on the loose, especially since it didn't happen often as far as Gavin knew. Forget solving the actual murder though because there was so much fucking red tape to cut through it was stupid and- Gavin ran a hand through his hair and sighed. This was going to be a fucking shit show, he just knew it. 

Pulling a pack of smokes from his jacket pocket, Gavin took one between his lips, replaced the pack and lit the cigarette. The immediate relief of nicotine on his tongue was a blessing and he exhaled slowly into the night, staring up at the dark sky and for a minute he just breathed. It was the flashing lights of an incoming cruiser that distracted him and he watched as it pulled to a stop at the curb by the busy house. The cruisers lights shut off and Gavin took another long drag of his smoke as two people stepped out of the front. He recognized the old man on sight even in the dark and irritation started to bubble immediately in his gut - what the fuck was Anderson doing here? This was Gavin's case, not a fucking free for all. 

Both Anderson and his lackey started towards Gavin right away, not giving the actual scene much of a look over. It was like they were on a fucking mission and for the second time today Gavin wished he hadn't gone inside that house because his nose was compromised, still thick with the metalic blood smell and he couldn't get a clear scent of the stranger. It was the equivalent of walking into a fight blind and it made him anxious. As a creature of instinct, not having one of his main senses was unsettling, especially when you were so used to relying on it, like Gavin was. 

So to counter that anxiety, he reacted with the hostility he was used to, flicking the tail end if his cigarette onto the driveway. "What the fuck are you doing here, Anderson?" He'd managed to swallow the growl that had threatened to roll off his tongue, and Hank _still_ shot him an unamused and disapproving look. It wasn't a secret that the old Lieutenant didn't like him, and honestly, it was true. Hank really didn't like Gavin and most people thought it was just because Gavin was an asshole and he and Hank were always butting heads. They were both pretty stubborn so it made sense but that wasn't it at all. 

Hank knew exactly what Gavin was unlike the rest of the precinct, and he definitely didn't know because Gavin had told him willingly. It had been an accident and Gavin preferred not to think too hard on it. What mattered was that Hank knew exactly what Gavin Reed was, unlike the entire rest of the precinct, and the old man really disliked him for it, as if Gavin had had a choice in the matter. 

"Trust me," Hank's dry laugh cut through Gavin's thoughts. "I'm not here to get involved in your fuckin' mess." before Gavin could snap at him for assuming shit about his case, Hank gestured towards the guy who'd followed him out of the cruiser and Gavin focused on him for the first time since they'd both gotten out of the car. He was young, and pretty too which was weird for a cop. Tall - taller than Gavin by just a little bit which was just enough to be annoying and he looked uncomfortable. He had absolutely no fucking idea why Hank had felt the need to drag some random guy right into the middle of his investigation, but Gavin didn't need to wait long for an explanation. 

"Fowler seems to think you need a partner," oh fuck. "and as much as I disapprove of it here he is." Hank went quiet after that, waiting. There was enough tension in the air that you didn't need heightened senses to notice it, and Gavin didn't know why Hank was being extra hostile towards him. And then the words hit him like a ton of bricks. Partner. Hank was delivering his _partner_. 

All of Gavin's attention zeroed in on the officer standing next to Hank because now he cared to pay attention. What kind of asshole had they sent him? Gavin couldn't smell right now, at least not past the thick stench of copper stuck in his nose, but he had 4 other senses. The guy looked sharp, like he took time in his appearance; clothes and hair alike, and Gavin could say for sure that they'd never met before. They wouldn't stick a green officer with him, would they? So... His best guess was that this was probably a transfer from another precinct. Fucking great. 

Flicking his grey eyes between the two men for a moment, Gavin thought about saying something, snapping at Hank for no reason, or the new kid, but before he could manage a word, his new 'partner' stepped forward and extended a hand to him, a small, nervous smile twitching at his lips which caught Gavin off guard. Oh shit he was kind of cute. 

"Hello, Detective Reed. It's nice to finally meet you. My name is Connor. Detective Connor Anderson. It's a pleasure, I've heard a lot about you from Hank-." 

"-Oh Jesus fucking christ no."

Gavin stared, completely taken back by the fact that he was standing in front of Anderson Jr, with Anderson Sr, and that he'd just admitted to himself that an _Anderson_ was kind of cute. This had to be some kind of sick joke, right? What the fuck? Gavin blinked, finally, glancing at Connors outstretched hand, Connors face, then towards Hank who still looked miffed and Gavin totally understood why. He didn't know what to do, how to react. He was caught completely unprepared. 

Since when did Hank have a kid? Had Gavin ever known about that? Who the fuck would want to have kids with _Hank Anderson_?

Then suddenly the tiny hairs on the back of Gavin's neck stood on end because did Connor _know_? Why wouldn't he know about Gavin? Hank knew, so it made sense that his son knew, right? Was it a problem? Would it be a problem? Anxiety swelled up in the pit of his stomach. 

Connors smile faltered after a second and Gavin realized he was standing there like an idiot, so he grabbed the kids hand and shook it - might as well try and make nice for the time being. "Hi." Connors hand was cooler against Gavin's own, his eyes bright and doe brown, with hair matching the shade of his eyes and again Gavin was annoyed that his nose was not working properly because unlike Hank, Connor probably smelt good, though he doubted Hank would appreciate him sniffing around his son. Then again Hank wasn't exactly the boss of him and Gavin could put his nose where ever he wanted to.

"Reed can you just... Try and fucken behave?" it sounded like an exasperated request, like Hank didn't think Gavin even knew the definition of the word, and Gavin was happy to ignore him because fuck the Lieutenant. 

After a moment Hank shook his head and slapped Connor on the shoulder in a way that was probably meant to be encouraging, before he turned and headed back towards the cruiser, leaving Gavin alone with Anderson Jr. It was still strange, to be standing in front of a way more attractive Anderson, considering the one he was used to seeing. 

It was only minutes until Hank backed his car out of Gavin's crime scene, leaving the two Detectives, and Gavin clapped his hands together. Might as well toss the kid into the thick of things, he was supposed to be a detective, after all. Might as well test out that pretty head of his. "Connor, right?" when Connor nodded, Gavin turned and started for the house and Connor fell into an easy pace behind him. "We found one body, no identity, really rough shape. Some kind of ritual killing, and done by a Werewolf." 

"Werewolf?" the word rolled off Connors tongue like it was foreign, and Gavin glanced back at him as they walked only to see the kids brow furrowed in a frown. They made eye contact a second before Connor glanced behind Gavin towards the house. "You know for a fact that it was a werewolf?" 

Gavin didn't mean to laugh, but he couldn't stop himself. "Yeah. It's kinda hard to miss the obvious evidence." he stoped a few paces from the door, turning so he could look his partner over again, a little more curiously now that he wasn't being scrutinized by Lieutenant Dad. "How long have you been a Detective?" 

Connor hesitated under Gavin's stare and refused to make eye contact with him, which to Gavin's trained eye pretty much meant that he wasn't going to like the answer. "Not long. The transfer to the 7th precinct came with my promotion." well that fucking figured. 

"So this is your first _actual_ case as a Detective." 

Connor visibly stiffened at the implication behind the words. "I know what I'm doing, Detective Reed. Simply because the title is new does not mean that I haven't had my hand in solving cases like this for years already." 

It was clear in just his tone of voice that Connor was upset at even the idea that Gavin didn't think he could do his job, and to be totally honest the kid was extra cute when he was mad like this which made it real difficult to be annoyed with him. It was shitty though, because Connor probably got this kind of reaction a lot just because of his name. Being the kid of a Police Lieutenant kind of held expectations, and the misplaced idea that he was being handed everything instead of working for it like everyone else. Gavin understood that situation better than most people did thanks to his own family. 

"Cases like this, huh." Gavin cleared the last few paces towards the door and pushed it open, a clear invitation for Connor to go ahead and look at the crime scene himself. "Alright, you fucken take a look an let me know what you think." he leaned back against the wall beside the door and waited, watching Connor as he rubbed his palms down the front of his pants before stepping forward and entering the house. Gavin had no intention of going back inside, he'd already spent enough time in there. 

To the kids merit, he didn't back out of the house right away, and it was a fair bit of time before Connor did come back outside, looking a little paler than before, one hand covering his mouth. Gavin raised an eyebrow. "Well, oh great Detective? What's your verdict?" 

Connor didn't answer right away, needing a bit of time to compose himself but when he did, Gavin wasn't surprised with the answer. "I believe you are correct. The ritualistic nature of the murder is also quite concerning. What does it mean? And the rest of the family?" 

They were good questions, even if Gavin didn't know the answer to them yet. Werewolves weren't all nice and fluffy all the time, they had bad eggs just like humans did but they were usually kept in check by the pack; Betas, Alphas, and just the hierarchy in general. As for the family... "Fuck if I know. I'm not looking forward to it though." Gavin sighed, eyes closed. He'd seen the look on Connors face, and could tell that the kid was just as unhappy about this case as he was. 

"Has this happened before?" Connor moved away from the door, heading back towards the driveway where Hank had dropped him off and Gavin followed after a minute, if only to get away from the house and the mess inside of it. "The only werewolf things we dealt with at the 6th was petty crime, and even then it wasn't often and we usually deferred to the local pack."

"Mmm. Doubt this'll get deferred." even though Gavin wish it would so he didn't have to deal with it. Murder was one thing, he could solve murders. Trying to solve a murder while tip-towing around all the red tape was a whole fucking other ball game. He sighed, running a hand through his hair, scratching down the back of his neck. "Have you had to deal with Detroit's local werewolf pack before?" he was curious. 

"No. The opportunity was never available." 

That made Gavin laugh. " _Opportunity_ , huh?" Well fuck, obviously Hanks dislike for wolves hadn't rubbed off on his kid because most people balked at the idea of having to associate with a pack of dirty wild dogs. "Well let me be the first to tell you that it isn't fun." 

"How so?" 

"Too many rules." Gavin shrugged, and waited for the obvious next question that never came. The question of why Gavin had had previous contact with a werewolf pack when they were so... _Reserved_ wasn't a strong enough word. Again, anxiety knotted in his stomach at the idea that Connor knew what he was, that Hank had told him. People normally didn't like werewolves. Hell, Gavin didn't like them half the time. He just wanted to do his job without being judged on something he couldn't control. It wasn't like he'd woken up one day and decided _you know what? I'm gonna go get bitten by a monster dog today._ Who'd honestly want that? 

There was a silence between them for a long minute and Gavin shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket, eyes fixated in the ground ahead of him. He watched Connor fidgit out of the corner of his eye. "So, I guess Hank told you." 

Connor just nodded. 

"Fucken great."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things start rolling in Gavin and Connors investigation, but being a smelly old dog is hard :s

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Honestly I'm super excited that anyone's even interested in this weird AU, and I'm so sorry updates are super slow!
> 
> Again, thank you so much for reading, and all your comments and kudos seriously keep me going like. You have no frikken idea.

The precinct had started getting lively around 8am with officers starting their day and gathering their assignments, finishing paperwork and going over evidence. Gavin had been at his desk as of two hours ago after tossing and turning most of the night because of moon cycles and proximity and a whole shit load of bullshit that meant he had a hard time sleeping. He could complain for months about the weird sensitivities he had to the slightest fluctuations of the earth and it's rotation with the sun and the gravity of the moon and it was total and complete insane bullshit but whatever it was, it kept him awake a lot. The absolute worst kind of insomnia because he felt it ache in his bones. 

So that meant that Gavin got a lot of work done during the quiet few hours before the day shift started trickling into the precinct, and today was no exception. He'd accumulated a lot of information yesterday and only some of it had to be run through the computer system. He'd spent most of the day yesterday with Connor going over the crime scene, and then compiling the information once they'd gotten back to the station, and now that it was relatively quiet, Gavin had time to look over what they'd found and actually investigate. It was a lot of information to sift through, which was nice. The autopsy report wouldn't be finished for at least another 10 hours, but Gavin had enough tidbits of info that he could already start piecing together this family. 

The victim could be either Wallace or Holly Turner, assuming that it was someone who lived in the home. The victim could also be someone entirely new, killed by either Wallace or Holly and left in their house. Gavin doubted that only because he'd done a quick search of the werewolf registry and neither name had come up. If either of them were werewolves, they weren't legal. The child, Amber Turner, was too small to be the victim, and also hadn't come up in Gavin's search of the registry. She _was_ missing, however, and so far the girl and whatever parent was still alive hadn't turned up. Murder _and_ a missing persons, fantastic. 

It was strange, but also worrying. There was a possibility that the girl had been killed and moved, or kidnapped or maybe Holly had just left her husband and the divorce papers hadn't come through yet. Whatever the case was, Gavin couldn't look into the family any more until he knew which of them was dead. Getting some of the blood ID'ed from the inside of the house would help too, to at least let them know if anyone else had been hurt during the fight. 

It was a good start, Gavin didn't feel like he was sitting on his hands waiting, and he could start poking around the neighbourhood a little more than they had done yesterday, asking about the family. If anyone knew anything, it would probably be the neighbours. Maybe the one who'd initially called the police. 

Gavin read over a few more of the compiled files, only half paying any attention to what was going on around him. He picked up the faint scent of something sweet, a subtle perfume that Tina had gotten as a gift from her fiancé. She was always early to the station on weekdays, something about carpooling with her fiancé. When she'd first gotten the perfume, he'd almost died it was so strong. The average dose of perfumes and colognes were overwhelming to a sensitive nose. When he'd asked her to cut back a bit she'd been okay with it, said something like she didn't want to kill him if he had allergies. Gavin was okay with that. 

A few more officers piling into the station and then Gavin had to huff to get the smell of Axe out of his nose. It had taken all day yesterday before his nose started working properly again, he didn't need Chris' heinous amounts of body wash to clog it up again. 

"You're here early again, Reed." 

"Couldn't sleep." 

Chris laughed, taking a seat at his desk next to Gavin's. "Just wait man. Molly was up all night with a fever, so you know I was too. I keep telling you to enjoy the life before you lose it, and that means _sleep_." 

Gavin tore his eyes away from his reports and swiveled in his chair so he could give Chris the full effect if his frown. He didn't need to say anything, and Chris laughed because even he recognized that his advice kinda sucked. Gavin turned his chair back around and held up his almost empty coffee mug. "Be useful and get me some coffee, asshole. You can tell me how your kids doing when you get back." The guy laughed but grabbed the mug out of Gavin's hand and left for the break room to make some coffee for the both of them. 

Chris and Tina were probably Gavin's only friends in the precinct, which wasn't surprising. He didn't exactly make friends easily, and he was naturally pretty standoffish, and the ambition that came with liking your job meant that he got on a lot of people's nerves as he walked over them. Metaphorically speaking anyways. Neither Tina or Chris knew what he was, Gavin had never told them anyways. He was genuinely worried about their opinion, because most people had shitty opinions on werewolves. The last thing Gavin wanted was to lose the only people he thought of as friends so he avoided the topic, laughed with Chris when he needed to repeat this dog joke he'd heard at the poker game Gavin never went to. That was life. 

He was going over a particularly curious piece of information on Amber Turner's school records when his nose caught on something. Gavin knew everyone at the precinct by smell, it was something his brain did naturally, like a scent catalogue. It was helpful, being able to tell who had been where and when, especially when trying to catch crooks and murderers. This though... Gavin inhaled deep through his nose, file forgotten, eyes searching the precinct for the thing he hadn't scented before and focusing quickly on the desk across the bullpen. Hank had just gotten in, but Gavin cared less about the old Lieutenant and was more interested in Connor standing beside him. 

All day yesterday and Gavin hadn't been able to smell his partner, and fuck if it hadn't been a blessing in disguise because even from across the room, Connor smelt fucking amazing. From half a room away Gavin could pick up the faintest bit of lavender, which wasn't natural so it had to be a soap and it was such a smooth scent, a stark contrast to Hank who often smelt like the whiskey shots he tried to hide in his coffee. Gavin inhaled deep, trying to wrap his brain around the intricate different little hints of smells mixed into the lavender and he didn't notice Chris come back to his desk, and he jumped when the mug of coffee was set beside him. 

"Who's that?" Chris nodded towards the Anderson's across the room, not noticing Gavin's startled reaction at all. All Gavin could do was lean back in his chair and try to get his heart to calm down. Chris had scared the fuck out of him and that wasn't normal because he was supposed to be alert to his surroundings at all times without needing to think about it. 

Gavin gulped down half the mug of coffee before he even tried to respond to Chris, and he still had a hard time focusing on his friend with Connor nearby. He closed his eyes and breathed in the smell of fresh caffeine and sugar, a feeble attempt at getting his brain to focus on Chris. "My new partner." 

Chris barked a laugh at Gavin's answer. "No shit! Fowler finally found some sucker who'd partner up with _you_?" 

"Fuck off." 

"Whys he talking to Anderson?" Chris dropped into his chair and wheeled it around to Gavin's desk, sipping his own coffee while he watched Hank and the new kid chat, and Gavin downed the rest of his mug. 

This was going to be a long fucking day if it was going to be this hard to focus. He shrugged, setting his now empty mug back on his desk. "Because that's Hanks kid." 

Whatever Chris was going to say was lost as Connor turned and started towards them, nodding a hello to both Gavin and Chris when he was close enough. "Good morning." and he held a hand out towards Chris with a cheery smile. "We didn't meet yesterday while I was here. I'm Gavin's new partner, Connor Anderson."

"Ooh, kids polite unlike you, Reed, nice. Teach this jerk some manners will ya? Chris Miller, nice to meet you Connor." 

Gavin didn't wait for the handshake to be done, he just nudged Chris' shoulder to get him moving. "Don't you have something to patrol? Go do some fucking work." It was hard to ignore the agitated growl that had almost slipped out at just watching Connor touch someone. Honestly what the fuck was wrong with him. Was he really getting territorial with _Chris_?

Chris just laughed, wheeling his chair back to his desk. "And that ray of sunshine is all yours, Anderson."

"Thank you." 

"Well fuck you both." Gavin mumbled, shaking his head and he tried to go back to the file open on his computer, but that was proving to be impossible as he read the same sentence over for the third time. It wasn't just the lavender scent coming off of Connor that was distracting, it was his own reactions to his scent that was rediculous. It was a pretty distracting smell though, definitely a soap, probably a shampoo and it didn't quite mask the more natural smell of honey. It was such a smooth mixing of two different scents; crisp and fresh and clean. Gavin took a few subtle sniffs of the air, not taking his eyes off of his computer screen, and he was surprised by how much effort it took not to make a sound because of how purely satisfying it was. 

" _Detective._ " 

"Hmm?" Gavin blinked a couple of times, focusing his eyes on the screen in front of him for a second before he glanced towards Connor curiously. "What?" He didn't expect Connor to look a little put off and Gavin didn't understand what he'd done, because he hadn't actually done anything. 

"I've been talking for 5 minutes and you haven't been listening." 

Gavin stared, nose twitching, mild panic coursing through his veins like a cold rush of water. He glanced at the clock on his terminal screen and low and behold, five minutes was not an exaggeration. "No, I fucking haven't been listening. I've been trying to read this report and you're being fucking distracting." Gavin snapped before he had a chance to think about it, and Connor seemed surprised and suddenly interested. 

"I- which report? I was reading them on the way over." 

Truthfully, Gavin had forgotten what the fuck he'd been reading up until now thanks to Connors rediculously delicious smell, and it took him a second to get his bearings and remember what the last file he'd opened had been. "Amber Turner's file." 

Hearing that, Connor brightened, forgetting about how mad he'd been seconds before and he looked around his immediate area quickly before hoping up on Gavin's desk like he owned it. Sure, there weren't any empty chairs nearby but- "What are you doing." 

The closer Connor got, the harder it was to ignore that scent of his. That sweet, smooth scent that was driving Gavin absolutely insane, and Connor was definetly a lot closer than Gavin would have liked, which was so strange because they'd ended up sitting this close yesterday while compiling their case information and Gavin hadn't cared in the slightest. 

"No chair. I've read that file, did you see the part in the fourth paragraph about her school? Here-" Connor reached over to point at the screen and his arm brushed across Gavin's shoulder and Gavin was on his feet in seconds. "... Detective?" 

Slowly, Gavin eased his way back down into his chair and moved it a few inches to the side so that there was at least some space between the two of them. Space so that Connor wouldn't touch him. Why was that an issue? His brain felt like it had short circuited and it was fucking stupid and distraction and he really didn't need this right now in the middle if a very important murder investigation. 

"Paragraph four, yeah." Gavin nodded slowly, trying to remember what was in paragraph four. "Her school." thats right. Okay he remembered this. "The absenteeism records."

It took a moment, but Connor finally nodded. "Yes. She's missed a lot of school days this year. It isn't random by the looks of it, and it's always for a few days at a time. Do you think it could be suspicious?" 

"Might be. She's still missing, so it's a good place to start."

Connor nodded, checking his watch quickly before hoping off of Gavin's desk. "The autopsy report won't be in until 4 at the earliest, so we can stop by Amber's school for questions then be at the crime scene by noon?" Connor rocked back on the heels of his feet, oozing excitement at the prospect of questioning people and Gavin pressed his lips tight together to keep himself from smiling because it was absolutely adorable to watch. 

Had Hank started out this way? Excited about stupid shit like asking people questions? Gavin always remember Hank as more annoyed than anything, like it was a chore to deal with people. Connor seemed genuinely optimistic about heading to the school, like they might actually find something out. "Sounds good to me." It was enthusiasm that was easily contagious. 

°°°§°°°

Connor leaned against the passenger side door, staring ahead as Gavin drove, biting at his thumb nail, and Gavin kept glancing over. He was more aware of what Connor was doing than what the car was doing at this point. Gavin had just let his partner in on his thoughts about who their perp was, or _wasn't_ , which turned into an explanation on how the werewolf registry worked, which ended with Gavin having to explain the finer details of the laws behind the registry. 

"I had no idea this even existed. Everyone has to do it?" 

Honestly Gavin couldn't help but smile just a little. His window was open, and the breeze kept Connors scent at bay, which made it easier to think straight, but he was still finding it easy to get lost in just the small wiffs he got. Besides that, the other Detective was turning out to be interesting to talk to, if you ignored the shitty topic. Connor was an empathic person, and it was intriguing to see him react to the things he felt were wrong - like this registry shit. "That's the point of a fucking law, Connor."

"I _know_ that." Connor shot him an annoyed look from the passengers seat which only made Gavin smile a little more. "I'm just saying, that doesn't seem fair at all."

It wasn't Gavin's job to decide what was fair or not, so he shrugged. He'd bitched enough about the unfairness of the registry to his brother a long time ago and frankly didn't have the energy for it anymore. "Fair or not, it helps. The Turner's aren't on that list so unless they're living illegally, then it's safe to assume they didn't kill each other."

Connor was quiet, staring out the side window, and only looked over when he noticed Gavin glancing his way. "Are you on it?" Gavin gave him a pointed look that was more than answer enough and Connor frowned at his own question as if realizing how dumb it was. "Right. Illegal not to be. But the DPD doesn't enforce that law?"

"No, the Pack does that. The fines are pretty fucking hefty if they don't." Gavin shrugged, turning into the large parking lot of the school, the hand not on the steering wheel scratched at his chin. "It's the same as signing for your kids birth certificate. Gets done right away and you don't have to think about it afterwards. Not quite the same when you're not bred but." he shrugged again. 

"What does that mean?" 

Gavin parked in the first empty spot he found and shut off the engine, pulling his keys from the ignition before looking fully at Connor. "Turned versus bred? Look, Connor. Can we not?" Gavin waved a hand at the school building, hoping that his partner caught his meaning. Talking about this kind of stuff wasn't something Gavin was comfortable doing, not even with his own family. Especially not with Connor. "This shits way more important right now." and with that Gavin left the car, shutting the door and he was halfway to the schools entrance by the time Connor caught up with him. 

"Detective-" Connor fell into a steady pace just just to his right. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to pry. I've just never-" 

The wind shifted as they took the stairs up to the front entrance and Gavin almost tripped up them, the full unfiltered force of Connors scent hitting him like a wall. Gavin's sudden stop caught Connor off guard and he had to side step to avoid bumping into Gavin, who shook his head, physically trying to repel the fucking rediculous disorientation that had settled like a fog on his brain. 

"Detective -?" 

"Just stop fucking talking." 

Thankfully, Anderson Jr kept his mouth shut for a bit and Gavin managed to right himself and get a few deep breaths of fresh air before continuing into the school. They followed the signage to the front office, and found it empty besides a middle aged woman who Gavin figured was the secretary. She kept her straw blond hair up in a tight bun and reaked of floral perfume. It was so thick that Gavin coughed before he could stop himself, and even Connor wiggled his nose at the smell of it. Didn't schools have a no smell policy?

At the very least, the woman's heavy perfume overpowered Connors sweet scent, though Gavin was having a hard time focusing through this smell too for different reasons. "Excuse me," Gavin unclipped his badge and held it up for the woman to see. "is there anyone we can talk to about a student here?" he tried to wiggle his nose inconspicuously because that perfume was fucking God awful and it felt like it was burning the inside of his nasal passage. 

The woman frowned, eyeing the badge for a moment, then the two of them skeptically before she finally nodded. "Of course. I'll call Principal   
Cohen." 

"Thanks." Gavin nodded before stepping out of the room with Connor on his heels, badge returning to the spot in his jeans. 

It took an agonizing ten minutes before anyone remotely looking like the principal showed up, and what annoyed Gavin the most was that there was no apology, like they deserved to wait. The old man, greying hair combed over to try and cover an obvious bald spot, extended his hand to both Connor and Gavin, and this time it was Connor who presented his badge, only to have it scrutinized by the Principal as if he'd seen too many of them before and rarely were they real. The old man turned it over a few times over his palm, looking for something that might give away it's fakness. 

When he found nothing, he handed Connor back the badge, looking between them before settling his eyes in Connor. "Alright, Detectives, what can I do for you?" 

"We have a few questions about a student of yours that we believe is missing." 

That seemed to catch the man's interest, and Gavin watched the look of surprise cross his face. "One of our student? Alright, alright. Why don't we head to my office and I can pull up our student files." He lead the way, back into the office and passed the woman who needed to lay off her perfume, and into an adjacent room. He shut the door tight when both detectives were inside and took a seat behind the desk. Connor sat in one of the offered chairs, and Gavin chose to stand. 

He hated schools like this. 

"Whats the students name?" 

Gavin wiggled his nose, trying for the second time today to get the floral perfume scent out of his nose. "Amber Turner." 

The principal hummed, typing at his computer before he finally frowned, "Are you positive that's the students name?" 

Connor glanced back towards Gavin, who stepped closer to the desk. "Why?" 

"Amber Turner was marked present in class today."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please jump on over to Tumblr and give [Shootmewithasilverbullet](https://shootmewithasilverbullet.tumblr.com/)!  
> a follow for fic updates/DBH content + a shit load of other stuff + the ability to chat with yours truly!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things start to unfold in an interesting way

Gavin's back hit the wall and he crossed his arms, fingers tapping against the sleeve of his jacket anxiously. What was Amber doing at school? That didn't make any sense, unless the Divorced parents idea was actually true. Nothing in their files had said anything about them even filing for it, but maybe they hadn't gotten that far. None of the neighbours that officers had spoken with last night had said anything about marital issues, and you'd think that would be important to tell police on site for a murder. Gavin frowned. 

"Are you sure this is the right girl?" Connor spoke up from his chair, glancing back at Gavin for just a second before looking towards Cohen. "Do you have other Amber's registered at this school?" 

Nodding his head a couple of times, the older man's fingers pressed a few keys on his keyboard. "There are seven Amber's attending, but only one Amber Turner. So unless you've got the name wrong, this is the girl you're looking for. May I ask why you're interested in her, Detectives?" 

Gavin watched Connor frown as he pulled himself up off his chair slowly and he smiled politely. "I do apologise but we can't divulge that information at this time. Can you give us a few minutes?" Cohen nodded and Connor went for the door, and Gavin tracked him the entire four steps it took to get a cross the office without moving. Once Connor pulled open the door, Gavin finally moved and slip through it right behind his partner and followed him the entire way out to the front steps of the school. 

Once out in the open air, Gavin started to pace across the top of the steps, one hand rubbing at the base of his neck, his mind coming up with a million and one things that he needed to focus on. "This is fucked." He could feel Connor staring at him, but there was no way he could stop moving right now. 

"Could she not know what happened?" 

" _How_?" the hand at Gavin's neck moved up the back of his head scratching through his hair. "Where was she? Staying with a relative? Family friends? That's really fucking convinient." Gavin managed to stop moving and glanced towards his partner, watching Connor tap a finger to his lips. "You think... Maybe... " 

Connor nodded, catching onto what Gavin was trying to get at. "If she was staying with another family member, or family friends, that re-opens the idea that either Wallace or Holly killed the other." despite that, Connor frowned like he didn't quite like his own theory, especially knowing what Gavin had said earlier about neither adult being listed as a werewolf. "It doesn't quite make enough sense though. Maybe it was a relative who attacked them?" 

Gavin made a noise kin to an annoyed growl, arms crossing tight over his chest. "We're missing something." no matter what the current evidence said, he still didn't think either Wallace or Holly was the murderer. It didn't fit with what he'd found out about them already. Yeah, one of them _could_ have been an illegal werewolf, and the stories the on-scene neighbours had told last night _could_ have been lies, but his gut didn't think so. They were still missing too many peices. He huffed, finally. "Let's go talk to the girl." 

"Wait-" before Gavin could even reach for the door handle, Connor was pulling him back by the arm. " _Should_ we talk to her? What would we ask her? She's six, if we start interrogating her about her parents, that's bound to upset her."

"Yeah, and?" Gavin shook off Connors arm and waited for him to keep going. Proximity was still a nagging issue for him, and Connor being close enough to grab him, meant Connor was close enough to smell. The trouble was, Gavin wanted to scent Connor, and right this second he wanted to do it more than he wanted to progress with this investigation. Taking a subtle step away from his partner only helped marginally. 

"We're police officers, Gavin." Connor sighed, biting his lip. "Shes old enough to put two and two together if we interrogate her." 

Gavin swallowed hard, paying way too much attention to that little act of frustration. Connor tugging at his bottom lip with his teeth, accented by the sweet natural scent, and Gavin was gone. "And."

"And." Connor shrugged, sounding mildly annoyed but Gavin didn't honestly care right now. "She's six years old we need to be creative." Connor moved, stepping towards the steps of the school and away form the door and it was far enough away that Gavin could breath again. 

He blinked, one hand coming up quick to rub at his eyes. Why was Connor so fucking distracting? This was so fucking unfair. "You want to pretend we're fucking guidance councilors or something?" he grabbed the door handle and held it open for his partner, ushering him inside before anything else happened. Inside the air was stale and filled with the smell of bleach and other cheap cleaning supplies, and so many different kid smells that it was easier to ignore Connor. He did leaned in as subtly as possible when Connor walked by him to get through the door, just so he could get a hint of that scent, missing it already. It was like a double edged sword; Gavin couldn't get enough of it, and couldn't focus with it. 

"Maybe not an outright lie." Connor was still talking when Gavin finally managed to follow after him. "A white lie, maybe?"

"How about we just ask her who dropped her off this morning? Principal McDick can even ask for us." 

Connor stopped at the door to the office, turning around just so he could display how unimpressed he was with Gavin's choice of words. "You shouldn't call people names." 

"Is it a fucken good idea or not?" it was hard not to smile when Connor being visibly upset was pretty cute. 

Connor couldn't say it was a bad idea though, so they moved into the office. Gavin inhaled as deep and subtly as he could when they passed by the secretary, hoping that the burning flower musk would at least numb his nose for a few minutes. 

Principal Cohen was right where they'd left him and smiled when the two Detectives came back. Connor sat back down in his chair from earlier and explained their plan to talk to Amber through him. Cohen agreed to it. It was simple; get the girl into the office, question her on her mode of transportation in the morning and then let her go. They could do whatever information gathering afterwards but at least they'd have a direction to go in while they waited for the autopsy report to come in. 

Amber came in about 6 minutes after she'd been called in. She was a cute little brunette with a long braid and a striped blue jumper, pretty much exactly as she looked in the pictures Gavin had seen in her home. She looked nervous, especially when she spotted Gavin and Connor standing in the room, but when Principal Cohen cleared his throat her focus shifted to him and she seemed to relax. 

"Am I in trouble?" he voice was small and about as worried as a six year old could get. 

"Absolutely not, Amber." Cohen pointed a hand towards Gavin and Connor, trying to make it less awkward that they were there. "We're just doing a random survey. You take the bus to school and back home, right?" 

Again, Amber looked from the Principal to Gavin, then Connor, and she seemed to squirm a little under the pressure, eyes dropping to the ground. "Yes." 

That's when Gavin shifted his weight. That was a lie and Cohen didn't catch it. The old man continued none the wiser, asking questions and Amber answering pleasantly. She seemed less nervous when they weren't talking about rides to and from school. When he looked at Connor, his partner was watching the conversation and didn't seem aware of the fib, which meant no one was going to call the girl out except him. 

"Amber." Gavin pushed off the wall, not taking his eyes off of the girl as he moved. Three steps and he was close enough that he could crouch beside her. This low to the ground he was about as tall as she was and a lot less threatening than if he was standing up. "Who dropped you off this morning?"

The girl fidgited a little with her hands, frowning, and both Connor and Cohen were quiet. "I'm really not supposed to tell. I made a promise." Amber's smile said she was sorry, and it was adorable but Gavin couldn't help feeling bad for her knowing what he did about he new family situation. 

"You know," Gavin paused, looking back at Connor just to make sure his partner was okay with the plan change before turning back to the girl. "sometimes promises should be broken because the person you made them with is in trouble and needs help." 

"Is my daddy in trouble?" 

Gavin smiled just a bit. "I don't know, what do you think? You're a pretty smart girl." This is what he was looking for. 

Amber squirmed on the spot before nodding her head. "Yeah... I think maybe. Mommy said he's not allowed to come here but he still does." the girl frowned, looking up from the floor. "But I like it when I can see daddy." 

"Did your daddy braid your hair this morning?" she nodded, shy smile turning instantly into a proud one as she nodded. Gavin grinned. "It's really pretty, can I fix it? It's coming undone a bit." 

The girl looked horrified for a second and she turned around real quick, scooting backwards on her heels so that Gavin had access to her hair so he could fix it. He tugged at the end, redoing the elastic and lifted the tip of her braid to his nose for a second, getting in a couple good little sniffs before letting her go.

"All done. It's just as pretty as before. Thank you so much for your help Amber, maybe Principal Cohen can walk you back to class?" 

Gavin stood up, glancing at Cohen, who's demeanor had changed in less than a second and not for the better. He didn't move to do as Gavin had asked, and honestly that was more annoying than seeing the guys trust die instantly because Gavin wasn't as human as the guy had expected.

"Cohen." Gavin actually had to snap his fingers to get the man's attention, and thankfully he finally moved, ushering the little girl out of the office. Gavin dropped into one of the two chairs set in front of the principals desk, and waited for Cohen and Amber to be gone completely before he finally sighed, nose twitching. 

"It was subtle, but kind of not." Connor sat in the second chair, eyes still on the closed office door. "Did you catch that? Daddy isn't Wallace Turner."

"Daddy isn't human, either. It was really faint but I could smell him on her." Gavin's fingers drummed against the arm of the chair, eyes focused on the far wall. The scent of another werewolf was just different enough from that of a human that he could easily tell apart werewolves from the rest of humanity. He couldn't explain what it was that was different, it wasn't like wolves smelt like wet dog or anything, his brain just knew the smell. 

If Amber's real dad was a werewolf, and he wasn't allowed to see her anymore, well. That was their whole case right there. "So Daddy werewolf gets upset over custody of his daughter, goes fucking mental, and, what? Kills mommy? Step dad?" 

"There hasn't been a second body. If he's still taking Amber to school like normal, maybe there's a chance that Holly's still alive?" 

Gavin refocused on Connor before nodding just a little. "Yeah, maybe. You think Daddy's name is on Amber's birth certificate? Hospital records?" they were getting somewhere now. Gavin pulled himself up off the chair, just itching to get out if this fucking school. "Let's go find out." 

"Hey," Connor followed suit and stood, "Did you have to get that close to sniff her?" 

"What?" 

Connor nodded towards the door. "With Amber. It wasn't weird or anything, I'm just curious. How close do you have to be to sniff people out?" 

Here we go again. Gavin tried to swallow his sigh, because he really didn't want to be annoyed with Connor, because this stuff _wasn't_ common knowledge. Gavin just hated talking about it. "I can scent _you_ from across the room." but that was mainly because he'd started actively searching for Connors scent when he wasn't focusing. "Amber's been at school for at least an hour, her dad's scent in her hair was faint to begin with so yeah, I had to get in pretty close to get it." 

They left the Pricipals office before Cohen made it back and Connor let the secretary know that they'd be returning shortly, and to pass the message along. Once they were both outside the office, heading for the main exit and Gavin's car, Connor spoke up again. 

"What does she smell like?" 

"A disaster." 

Connor laughed unexpectedly before clearing his throat. "Its the perfume, isn't it? How about Cohen?" 

Gavin held the door open, practically pushing Connor outside just to keep him moving. "Too much aftershave. Do you really want to know these things?" 

Despite Gavin's hostility, Connor was smiling like he was genuinely interested, and if that was the case Gavin would keep answering, even if he thought it was stupid. 

"So, how do I smell?" 

Except that question. Gavin hesitated on the last step. He should have expected that one, but for whatever reason he hadn't and he wasn't sure how to answer. He couldn't say _'like heaven.'_ because that was too incriminating. He'd already taken too long trying to figure out an answer, because Connor had turned to look at him curiously. 

"Uh... You know... Like shit I guess. Can we stop?" 

" _Like shit_?" Connor repeated, not quite sounding offended but more like he didn't believe the answer. "Really?" 

Gavin tried to ignore him, dropping into the drivers seat when he got to his car and quickly finding his tablet as soon as the door was shut. "Yeah, so can we stop fucking around and work?" Tablet in hand, he glanced at Connor who was trying his best not to smile. The little shit. "What?" 

Connor shrugged, pretending he was oblivious and had no idea that Gavin was annoyed with him, but he couldn't hide the smile twitching at the corner of his lips. "It's nothing, I just realized that my partner is afraid to admit that I smell good." 

"What-" Gavin wanted to deny every bit of that sentence, even if it was true. "I never even - no." he could feel himself going red the further he dug this hole of his. "You got weird fucken flowery shampoo and it's just fucken strange alright? I haven't figured it out yet, so stop fucking harassing me about it." 

And beside him, Connor was practically in stitches laughing, bent over and holding onto the dashboard with one hand, the other curled around his stomach. It was hard to stay mad, yeah, but Gavin was gonna make a show of it for as long as he could. Connor turned finally, laughter gone, but he was still grinning. "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for. Do you need a minute to compose yourself?" 

Gavin growled without meaning to, and instead of being surprised, startled or concerned, Connor smiled wider if that was even possible. "You're being a fucking shithead, Anderson. Can we work now? Please?" he was practically begging, which was so below him but at this point in time Gavin had little other choice besides maybe mauling his partner. 

"Absolutely, Detective Reed. Let's get back to work." 

Shaking his head, Gavin logged onto his tablet and started searching the database for birth records. When he found it, he held the device out so Connor could see it as well. "Born Amber Lynne _Morgan_. Blah blah blah, adopted by Wallace Turner on April 24th 2036."

"Tyler Morgan, here." Connor tapped the tablet where it had the birth parents listed. "It doesn't say anything about him being a werewolf anywhere on this file though." Connors eyes scanned the digital document again, searching for keywords but didn't come up with anything that remotely stated a race other than Caucasian. 

"It wouldn't." Gavin passed the tablet over so Connor could keep looking through the file, and pulled out his phone from his back pocket, lifting his butt up off the seat so he could grab it. It was a quick couple taps before the registry pulled up and even faster for Tyler's name to populate. "This is it. The official documents of one Tyler Montgomery Morgan, werewolf. Bred to two registered werewolves, Liv and Alexander, living in the Boston area. Tyler joined the Detroit pack in 2017, and has been living in the Detroit area ever since." 

Connor tossed the tablet up into the dash and took Gavin's phone from him so he could look over the paragraphs of information listed about Tyler. His brow furrowed, eyes scanning every word. "This is... A lot of information, Gavin." 

"Mmhm." 

"Is this typical?" Connors frown deepend. "It even lists all of his work history." after a moment, those concerned brown eyes blinked up at him. "Gavin, we don't even keep records this detailed on criminals."

"Well." Gavin reached for his phone, only to have Connor hold it out of his reach, so he dropped his arm back down to the arm rest. "That's life. We have a name and a face now, so we know who to look for. If-" he hesitated. "Connor what are you doing?" 

"Nothing." that's what he said, but Connors fingers were typing and Gavin wasn't an idiot. 

"You can't just look me up without permission."

"Gavin Daniel Reed." Connors eyes scanned over the screen, effectively ignoring his partner. "Turned at age 7 during an accidental altercation during school-"

" _Connor_."

Quiet. 

Connor glanced up from the phone, like he'd suddenly realized that it was actually not okay to pry like this. "Okay, I'm sorry." he handed the phone over with a sigh "Name and a face. If Tyler dropped Amber off this morning, he'll be back to get her when schools over. We can grab him when he shows up." 

That was the plan in not so many words, but it was a lot more delicate than just grabbing someone off the street like they would any other criminal, or murderer. "Keep in mind that he can actually fucken tear you apart without even thinking about it. There's a lot we don't actually know about this asshole, like the full extent of what he can do." and the last thing Gavin wanted was to have to explain to Hank that he'd let his kid get torn up by a feral werewolf. 

"What do you mean? I thought werewolves could only change from human to wolf and back again." 

More question. It was like every time Gavin opened his mouth, Connor had sixteen questions about what he'd just said. It wasn't his fault, but still. It reminded Gavin way too much of growing up with his half brother. "Yeah, and like everything in nature it isn't that _simple_. A _wolf_ didn't tear apart that body last night, something else did, so Tyler can do something I can't, so be fucking careful." 

Connors fingers tapped against the door for a couple seconds before he reached for the tablet he'd tossed up on the dash, holding the screen towards Gavin. He unlocked it, and watched Connor scroll though Amber's file again. Gavin leaned forward a bit so he could see the contents of the tablet, breathing in deep through his nose as subtly as possible. Fuck, he really could not get enough of that scent. 

"Do you think we need backup?" 

"No." Gavin shook his head to try and focus, leaning back into the drivers seat, staring out the front window at the school. "Normally yeah, but I have a weird feeling about this." When school was done for the day this whole parking space would be full of cars and parents and kids, it was going to be hectic and if they didn't manage to subdue Tyler right away, well. There'd be a lot of collateral around. Backup would be nice but Gavin really wanted to bring Tyler in alive. "Most cops tend to shoot first when they're dealing with us, especially when we're angry and Tyler's gonna be pissed I bet."

The glove compartment snapped open, nabbing Gavin's attention. Connor pushed it shut after returning the tablet to its spot before opening his door and climbing out of the car. "Well. Lets let Principal Cohen know we have a plan." 

Gavin groaned but followed his partner out of the car. 

As expected, Cohen was an asshole and garnering any sort of cooperation from him this time around was like pulling teeth out of an angry crocodile. Gavin bowed out of the meeting early, because it was better to leave than actually maim the the fuckwad like he wanted to do. Three cigarettes later and Connor finally stepped out of the school, looking less than impressed with the entire scenario. 

"And?" 

The shrug he got didn't instill any confidence. Gavin watched Connor sit at the top of the stairs with a sigh. He'd been out there almost an hour already, what was a few more minutes of waiting while his partner got his thoughts together? 

"Well." finally, Connor leaned back, looking up to where Gavin was still standing above him. "He really doesn't like you. He thinks that trying to arrest Tyler on school property is dangerous and he doesn't want us here engangering everyone." 

"His objections are duly noted."

"His objections are _valid_ , Gavin. I think we need backup, so that we can at least keep civilians out of the way if things go wrong." 

Connor meant well, but he had no fucking idea what he was dealing with right now. "And what? Line up a couple cruisers down the street and invite this asshole for a sit-down so we can chat over fucking tea? No." 

"Gavin-" 

"- _No._ I'm not trying to be a dick, or overbearing, or whatever. I get what you're saying, all those concerns are real, but if you get more people here, shits gonna hit the fan so fast. _More is not good._ " Gavin took a long drag of his smoke, thankful that the nicotine was at least semi distracting him from how good Connor smelled. It made it easier to say no. "Listen. Trust me when I say this is safer." 

It was hard to put that kind of trust in someone else, especially when you didn't understand the entire situation, but Connor eventually nodded. "Okay. We do it your way." and that was a weight off Gavin's chest. He snuffed the last dregs of his cigarette out against the side of the building and tossed the butt into the garden beside the stairs, before lending a hand to Connor, pulling his partner up off the ground. 

"So I was thinking, we can split up, cover more-" he tugged, but Connor didn't let go of his hand. "What?" he remained trapped despite trying to pull away again. 

"This is so convenient. It's like your body temperature is higher." there was an intense brightness to Connors brown eyes, an intrigue that made Gavin swallow hard, caught completely off guard. Gavin was suddenly very aware of the proximity between them and how easy it would be to move just a step closer and burry his nose into the crook of Connors neck and really inhale everything he was, feel how soft his skin was against Gavin's own, how fucking delightful it would be to trace the curve of Connors neck with his nose barely touching- 

"Anderson fucking let go."

The urgency was a surprise to them both, and Connor instantly released his grip on Gavin's hand and Gavin immediately took the stairs two at a time until he was at his car, and paced around it. He shook out his hand, trying to get rid of the tingling, the leftover feeling of where Connor had touched him and for fucks sake this was _absolute fucking bullshit._ He dug around his jacket pocket, found his pack of cigarettes and lit one as soon as he could get his lighter to work, and tried his damndest to ignore the footsteps coming up behind him. 

Before Connor could say anything, Gavin spoke up. "I'm fine." he wasn't. Gavin took a long drag of his smoke and of course, of fucking course, it wasn't doing anything to override the the fucking _need_ circling his head. Distract. _Distract_.

"Listen." _work._ "We'll split up so we can cover more ground and keep an eye on the whole parking lot. If he's coming to get Amber he'll have to come this way so we'll see him for sure. If we're lucky we can get this done before anyone notices." 

"Alright."

There were a few hours before the school day was over and Gavin was glad when Connor volunteered to go get them coffee. He didn't want to leave the school, in case Tyler showed up early to sign Amber out of class, and the time alone was much needed. By the time Connor made it back, Gavin had himself sorted out and wasn't feeling as high-strung as before, and the coffee helped even more. He couldn't figure out why Connor smelt so good to him, when no one else had ever had that effect before. He'd scented his fair share of werewolves and humans during his life and no one even came close to Connor. It was honestly driving him crazy. 

At the very least, it was getting easier to think through the haze of Connors lavender and honey scent. Always a positive side. 

The first couple of cars started pulling into the school parking lot at quarter to 3 and Connor took that as his cue to head across the lot so he could keep an eye on things from that angle. 

3 o'clock and the parking lot was full of soccer moms and diligent dads waiting for their spawn, and Gavin managed to spot Amber in the crowd of kids, waiting expectantly for her dad. Something felt off about the whole thing, and he wasn't sure why that was. Too many people? There were a lot more parents here than he'd anticipated, and so many kids walking around, bumping past him. Amber was still looking over the crowd, rocking back and forth on her heels, but she didn't move from that spot. 

The hairs on the back of Gavin's neck stood on end, a group of teenagers laughing obnoxiously to his left and the wind shifted and he caught the same scent he'd gotten from Amber's hair. Every muscle tensed as he turned around and sure enough, across the street on the sidewalk standing still in a crowd of people was Tyler Morgan, taller than most of the people around him, thin and lanky despite his age. Tyler's focus wasn't on Gavin though, even though he should have been able to scent him easily from his position downwind. Tyler was focused instead on Connor, who was still watching Amber in the crowd and hadn't noticed anything wrong. 

What the fuck was he doing? For someone who was only there to pick up his kid, the guy seemed mighty fucken distracted. 

Tyler took a step forward, nostrils flaring like he was inhaling and- oh fuck he was scenting Connor. Did he- then it wasn't just Gavin who smelt that. Connor smelt good to other werewolves? Wait a fucking minute, _Tyler was scenting Connor._

The growl that rolled from Gavin's chest was threatening, and instantly Tyler shifted his focus from Connor to him. A couple of people close enough to hear it sidestepped him, but Gavin barely noticed, focused on the wolf across the street. No fucking way anyone was going to get their nose anywhere near Connor. Tyler bared his teeth for all of two seconds before he hesitated and Gavin couldn't explain the look that had suddenly crossed his face. Fear? There wasn't time to decide what it was, because the guy turned on his heel and booked it down the street. 

Chase initiated. Gavin bolted down the street after Tyler, forgetting that he had a partner and that he should maybe have said something before running off, but there wasn't any time. It was hard enough to keep up because the sidewalks were busy this time of day and while Tyler had no qualms with shoving people out of his way, Gavin was trying to weave between confused people. Tyler turned, jumping into the street and narrowly avoiding a truck, and Gavin followed without thinking. As soon as he was in the street a car screeched to a stop and he barely avoided the front end of the blue sedan, and a white SUV after that. By the time he got to the other side of the busy street, Gavin had lost sight of Tyler, which was only a minor issue. Though faint, Tyler's scent was still traceable. 

Gavin ducked out of the flow of foot traffic and onto a less busy side street, and yeah, he could definetly smell the guy here, it was just a matter of where he was hiding. He pulled his gun from his side holster, stepping forward carefully. Tyler was here somewhere, and there was definitely enough spots in the street for him to hide. 

A growl, from somewhere ahead of him. Fuck, the asshole had better not be shifting. "Tyler Morgan. If you shift that'll be an extra couple charges you don't need. Get out here, it's over." Gavin clicked off the safety on his Glock just in case and kept stepping forward, one foot carefully in front of the other. "Seriously, Tyler. I'm your only chance here. Anyone else'll put you down. Don't make this harder than it needs to be. Think about that little girl of yours."

A couple rounded the corner into the street and they froze as soon as they spotted Gavin, and he focused on them. They started backtracking without needing to be prompted. The split second that Gavin was distracted was all Tyler needed, and he came out from between a building at Gavins left and before he could react, he was dropped onto his back, hard enough to have the air knocked right outta his lungs. Tyler was holding him down with his one hand, all claws and fur and muscle and Gavin had lost track of his gun somewhere between when he was standing and now and he couldn't _breath_ let alone think. He had both his hands holding onto Tyler's one, and he still could barely hold him back. 

Tyler's clawed hands puahed down against Gavin's grip, claw tips grazing Gavin's throat and no matter hote hard he pushed, it wasn't making a difference. What the fuck was this guy on? Tyler was on top of him in a way that Gavin couldn't kick him off, he was pinned down completely and it didn't make sense because this was too much. The arm trying to get at his throat rippled, furr spouting across skin as it shifted and Gavin lost a little more of his grip, feeling the consequences as Tyler's claws scratched through a couple layers of skin at the side of his throat. 

Gritting his teeth, Gavin pushed, he just needed to get this asshole off of him, he just needed to get a bit of leverage but Tyler was using _one hand_ to keep him down and no matter how much he struggle, Gavin didn't gain an inch. He felt the claws cut deeper and he couldn't move. 

Gunshot. 

Gavin's ears rang with it, but the weight on top of him was gone and he could breath again. Shock spiralled through him and for a second he didn't hear anything but the ringing in his ears or see anything but the cloudy sky above him. He layed in the middle of the street flat on his back, breathing heavy. What the fuck was that. What the fuck what the fuck. When he sat up it was so suddenly that it made his head spin. 

"Gavin? Gavin!" Connor crouched donw beside him, glock still held tight in his hand. "Are you okay?" 

Connor had fired the shot, but there wasn't any blood. "Yeah, yeah I'm fucking fine." when Connor grabbed for him, Gavin shoved him away. He needed to breath and his partner wasn't helping. 

Tyler had gotten away from them. But that wasn't what Gavin was worried about. 

Partial shifting shouldn't exist. How the hell had Tyler managed to do it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! 
> 
> It's always a pleasure hearing from you guys so please send in your comments and kudos I love it! I honestly love hearing from all of you guys.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ever get in trouble for being you?  
> Yeah. Gavin gets that a lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2 months later and here we go  
> Hopefully it was worth the rediculous wait.
> 
> Thanks os much for your continued patience! I hope that your all as intrigued about this fic as I am! I keep getting these ideas that make me scream and I really hope that I can convey everything I want in this piece. 
> 
> Anyways so thank you for your continued support, and the time you take to read, and every comment or kudos you make.  
> I really am not deserving but i appreciate it all I love you!

"Look. I know it's a bullshit complaint, but I have to act on it."

"You're damn right it's bullshit! As fucken if, I knew that guy was a fucking weasel. I didn't do anything weird, alright? That Principal's just a fucking racist dick." 

Gavin cursed, a few extra slurs slipping from his lips in an angry whisper while he rubbed a hand over his face. Sitting across the desk from Captain Fowler, with Connor sitting nearby on the second chair in the office, and Gavin wasn't yelling like usual. He was mad, yeah, for obvious reason, but not enough to have a yelling match with the Captain. Even he could admit that Connors overwhelming scent was keeping him calmer than normal through this whole mess. It would have been unsettling if the smell hadn't already placate him so completely. 

They had barely gotten into the precinct before getting hauled into Fowlers glass box for a lecture and it had happened so fast that Gavin hadn't even had a chance to clean himself up yet: there was still a bit of dried blood on his neck from his fight barely an hour earlier with Tyler Morgan and his claws, let alone the dirt he'd picked up while rolling on the ground. 

Fowler sighed. They'd had this talk before and they'd have it again before too long and nothing was going to change. They both knew that yet here they were. "I know, it's a prejudice, but if people are uncomfortable with the police department and how we do our jobs, we have to do something about it." 

"Yeah." Gavin practically snarled "like have this stupid conversation over and over. I didn't fucking do _anything_ and that guys just an asshole. What the fuck am I supposed to do? I'm tryin' to do my fuckin' job, and these idiots are just getting in the way because they don't like this one thing that I can't fucking control." he wasn't even going to start in on the age old argument about how _his_ people needed to feel safe with the police department too, and letting assholes like Principle Dickhead go off for no reason didn't keep a good balance. 

Thankfully Fowler didn't flinch at Gavin's aggressive posturing, he'd seen it so many times before to know the empty threat that it was. He was still unimpressed though and it showed in his frown. "Did you even bother to think what it would look like when you straight on started sniffing a little girl?" 

"I didn't-" putting it that way made the situation sound a lot worse than it actually had been, no wonder the Captain was pissed. "I mean, I did, but it was barely a sniff, like the ends of her hair-" 

"We have dogs for that, Reed. _Use them_ " 

"Why waste the fucking time when I can do it?" 

Fowler reached up, scrubbing his eyes with his thumbs like it would take away the pain caused by this conversation. "Because then we get complaints like this one and I have to have this conversation with you, again. Can you please just follow protocol just once? The rules, Reed. Rules you should have followed before also trying to apprehend a suspect _on your own_ when you know our protocols specifically state that you need backup."

Gavin hesitated. It was true, he should have called it in, Connor had even reiterated that they should have radioed for backup but Gavin hadn't done it because he knew what would have happened if he had: They'd be down a suspect with no answers. "It would have-" 

"-Would have _what_? Please, explain that to me." Fowler waited, but Gavin couldn't find the words to explain it. At least not in a way that the Captain would have liked. 

He'd told Connor the truth earlier. Adding more people to the fray would have ended in someone getting hurt, or a dead suspect. Knowing what he did now about Tyler and his ability to do things that shouldn't be possible, Gavin was that much more certain that backup would have been a bad idea. That same prejudice that Principal Cohen had was shared by a lot of police officers Gavin worked with, and they wouldn't have hesitated to shoot at the first sign of teeth. 

"It would have ended badly." there just wasn't any other way to explain it. 

"Oh, I'm sorry. Are we talking about the same case? Because, it _did_ end badly. Your murder suspect got away. Care to elaborate on how that happened?" 

Gavin leaned back in his seat, arms crossed defensively. "He got nasty, took me by surprise and then got away. Ain't nothing else to it." 

With a sigh, Fowler shifted his glance to Connor who visibly squirmed under the stare. He was a new addition to the 7th precinct and hadn't had time to build up immunities to Fowler glare yet. "Well? I assigned you to this idiot to keep him from doing stupid things, Anderson, and he's still doing them. Why is that?" 

"His-" Connor frowned, avoiding direct eye contact with the Captain for the moment while he continued to squirm under Fowler's scrutiny. "the reasoning behind all of his argument were sound and I didn't see any problems going along with them. We didn't know what Tyler could do at the time however, so we were a little under prepared for the scuffle. No one was injured, except a few scratches on Detective Reed. Had there been more officers on scene, it would have been-" 

This time, Fowler just rolled his eyes, interrupting Connors vocal report of their situation with a wave of his hand, which shut up Anderson Jr. pretty quickly. "- _Perfect_. Get out, both of you." clearly Fowler was done with them; patience exhausted. 

Gavin was standing before Fowler finished his sentence and he was out the door seconds later, not willing to wait around in case the Captain had more to add to his lecture. He loved his job, he really did. Gavin couldn't see himself doing anything else besides this with his life and he'd worked extremely hard to get where he was, fought through all kinds of racism, prejudices, you name it, and he absolutely _hated_ defending his decisions like that. Hated having to choose between his job and what he was. Hated having to justify why normal policing methods wouldn't work in certain situations that involved werewolves. That last one was also extremely annoying, especially when he had to do it over and over and over again with Fowler. Same old song and dance. They were arguments that got them nowhere except more annoyed with each other. 

Gavin owed Jeffery Fowler a lot, because he'd been the only cop in Detroit willing to hire a werewolf right out of the academy during a time when it was totally legal to discriminate against them, but damn did he hate the guy sometimes. 

Gavin rounded a corner, only vaguely paying attention to who was around him as he walked, one hand rubbing up the side of his neck as he made his way to the bathroom. It was starting to itch and he just wanted to get cleaned off enough so he could push through the rest of the day, only to get hauled backwards by his arm. Hank pulled him to a full stop, and before Gavin could manage a growl in response to being manhandled unexpectedly, the old man was swearing at him. 

"What the fuck were you doing?" there wasn't _concern_ in Hank's voice perse, but he was definetly curious. "Fucking hell, Reed." Hank's curiosity had lasted all of 2.5 seconds before it registered that Gavin wasn't just dirty from rolling on the ground, but that some of the dirt was blood. "Are you-?" 

"It's none of your fucking business, old man." Gavin yanked his arm out of Hank's hold, barely managed to take a step towards the restroom before he smelt Connor, and his partner was coming around the corner moments later. Hank quickly turned his attention on Connor. 

"Are you fighting fucking werewolves, Connor?" the Lieutenant was pissed by the sounds of it and Gavin could only roll his eyes. Hank was overreacting just a bit. Besides, Connor hadn't fought anything yet, and if Gavin could help it he wouldn't ever. 

It was only when his partner didn't flinch as the Lieutenant was yelling at him did Gavin remember that this was a family thing. He'd forgotten the old man was... Actually Connors old man. Gavin hesitated, deciding to hold off on the bathroom for the time being. He dropped back against the wall instead of continuing down the hall and listened. 

Connor took Hanks anger in strides. "We aren't fighting anyone, Lieutenant. We're looking for a suspect-"

"-Dont give me that bullshit, Connor." Hank thrusted a finger angrily towards Gavin. "That's blood." 

"Well, yes-" 

"If it makes you feel fucking better, it's my own." 

Hank turned his glare on Gavin "It doesn't. I can't fucking believe this. I knew it was a bad idea." As soon as Hank started moving, Connor reached out to grab his arm, stopping the Lieutenant after his first step. 

His partners expression went from mildly annoyed by the argument to desperate in a split second and it wasn't what Gavin expected to see and his gut twisted uncomfortably at the sight. His fingers curled against the wall and Gavin resisted the need to speak up any more than he already had and interupt the family squabble. There was something in Connors scent that had changed subtly, and it was just enough to make Gavin uneasy as he watched. 

"Hank _don't_." 

But Hank wasn't having any of it. "I'm not going to stand around and let you chase after feral mutts just because you want to prove yourself, Connor." Hank shook his arm out of Connors hold but didn't continue down the hallway. "What'd you shoot at? I saw the discharge paperwork come in for your gun." 

"Nothing. It was a warning shot."

Hank was quiet a minute and both Andersons stared at each other, waiting for the other to break first. It was making Gavin nervous, until Connor finally broke the silence. 

"I understand where you're coming from, Lieutenant, but you need to trust me. You _promised_ me that you'd let me do my job if I took this position. You promised that working in the same precinct wouldn't be an issue. Chasing after a suspect and getting into altercations are very real aspects of this job that you need to acknowledge and let me do." 

"But-" 

" _Dad_." 

Even Gavin knew enough to know that that was it, Hank had just been worn down so quickly by his own son. It was barely a few seconds later before the defeated sigh came, and Hank finally nodded, giving up his argument. "Okay." but before Connor could celebrate the win, Hank cleared his throat, a bit of his fight back in his voice. " _For now_. If it gets too dangerous-" the old man glanced towards Gavin like this was his fault and the warning was meant for him. "-I'm pulling the plug." 

"Define _'too dangerous'_ -" Gavin started to ask, and was cut off when Connor pulled him away from the wall and started pushing him down the hallway, effectively cutting off any reply Hank could make. 

"Never mind, Detective. Let's not question the Lieutenants leniency for the time being."

The restroom door shut tight behind them and Connor sighed heavily, running a hand up through his hair while Gavin moved to the sink to do what he'd originally intended. He shucked off his jacket and tossed it up beside the sink and listened, waiting for Connor to speak up because he knew his partner was itching to say something. He turned the water on and started rubbing his wet hands over his neck, scrubbing to get some of the more stubborn spots out. 

It was only a few moments before Connor finally spoke up. "I apologize for that. It was uncalled for." 

"What was? Hank being worried about you?" Gavin hadn't expected an apology of all the possible things his partner could have said, and he waved it off easily. "S'far as I can tell it's fucken normal so, whatever."

"No, I mean..." Connor hesitated and Gavin shut the water off, turning to watch the uncomfortable squirming that Connor was doing. When his partner noticed that Gavin was watching him, his eyes dropped to the ground. "The slurrs."

That... Gavin could only stare for a minuted while his brain processed that bit of information. Honestly he hadn't even registered that Hank had used shitty terms until it was mentioned just now, because he was so used to hearing that kind of shit. It was the first time anyone had ever apologized to him for it. Well, anyone besides his brother. "It's fine. I don't know how it was in the 6th but up here in the 7th this shit is pretty normal." 

"It shouldn't be." 

"Listen." he couldn't help but sigh, scratching his nose with a finger. "Andersons got his fuckin' reasons, whatever they are. Everyone always has their reasons." Gavin grabbed his jacket from beside the sink and started trying to shake it out, brushing the dirt off the sleeves. "You'll get used to it." satisfied that he'd gotten enough dirt off his jacket he tugged it on and moved, holding the door open for Connor. "Use that brain of yours for actual detective work and stop worrying about shit that isn't going to change for another twenty years, alright? We're trying to chase down a murderer."

It took a few seconds but Connor finally nodded, and when he stepped passed Gavin to go through the door, Gavin leaned forward just enough, nostrils flaring as he inhaled as subtly as possible. It was stupid. The longer he spent around Connor the easier it was to think through his partners overwhelming scent, but at the same time, it was as if he needed to feel intoxicated by it. It was a dangerous slope he was decending, but every time he sniffed, it was fucking worth it. 

"Detective?" Connor paused, already halfway down the hall when he realized he wasn't being followed, and looking back he found Gavin standing in the bathroom doorway still holding the door open. 

Gavin coughed. "Coming." and he followed behind Anderson Jr., trying to figure out why he enjoyed torturing himself like this.

Once at Gavin's desk, Connor hopped up onto it like he had earlier that morning while Gavin clicked at the keyboard, logging into his system. He had a few new emails waiting for him but only one that he was interested in. "Autopsy reports in." double clicking the file, Gavin looked it over quickly for the specific details he was most interested in, like who their victim was. 

"I had a feeling it was Wallace." Connor mumbled, reading from his spot on the desk beside Gavin and his quiet sigh didn't go unnoticed. 

The report identified the body as that of Wallace Turner, and Gavin had to admit that he'd seen this coming too. Knowing now that Tyler was a werewolf, that he'd had a kid with Holly, then was rejected by her and watched her essentially restart her life with Wallace... If Tyler was mentally unwell, it might explain the aggressive actions. Kind of. It was normal for werewolves to get possessive, but not murder people horribly in weird ritualistic ways kind of possessive. Then again, maybe it had something to do with why he could do a partial shift? They had an identity for their body, but it had only opened up more questions. There was still a possibility that Holly was alive too, though for how much longer? The department had handed Amber over to child services after Tyler had gotten away and that might just send Tyler into a rage, especially considering how much effort he'd put into keeping the girl on a schedule. It depended on how bad Tyler's mental stability currently was, and Gavin guessed that it was pretty low. He hoped he was wrong for Holly's sake. 

"Gavin?" 

"Hmm?" Gavin flicked his eyes away from the screen and the report and focused on Connor, who was a lot closer than he'd been moments ago. He realized after a second that he'd unconsciously been leaning into Connors personal space while he'd been lost in his own thoughts and he wheeled his chair back to get as much space between them as fast as possible before he was up and moving without giving Connor time to react. "Address. House. Let's go." 

"Detecti- _wait_!" Connor only caught up to Gavin in the parking lot and he looked more than a little annoyed. "Could you please stop making decisions without consulting me? I'm not just a tag-along, we're supposed to be partners."

Stopping at his car, Gavin lean against the door and watch Connor as he made his way to the passenger side. Frankly there was too much swirling around his head to put into words that made sense, and most of his thoughts had shifted from chasing a murderer to why the fuck he was so unconsciously drawn to Connor. There had to be a better explanation besides scent. "Alright, alright. There's an address on Tyler's file, I want to check it out." 

Connor pulled his door open and dropped into the car and Gavin followed his lead, hesitating with his keys for a moment while they sat, fingers drumming against the steering wheel. 

"Are you worried about Holly? Do you think she could still be alive?" 

"Yeah. Maybe." Gavin rubbed his hand over the back of his neck, still not starting the car. Might as well try and organize some of his thoughts. "I just... My gut tells me that she's still alive, that this was his twisted fucking way of proving something. He kept Amber in school, kept her on a schedule. _She didn't know anything was wrong._ It's like, hell, I don't know, he was trying to make a point."

"You mean..." Connor was quiet for a minute, like he was trying to wrap his head around the idea Gavin had tossed out there. "As if he was trying to show Holly that he could be a good father." 

"Yeah." Gavin had both hands drumming against the steering wheel again, eyes focused out the front window. Tiny little theories were blooming in his head, but none of them were based on anything but a little hunch he had. "If we knew why she'd left him to begin with, it might make a bit more sense why he's gone ballistic." 

The leather of the seat squeeked as Connor shifted on the spot and Gavin noticed him frowning. "Would that have anything to do with it? Most people just ask for partial custody and leave it alone. Not murder their competition." 

Gavin cleared his throat, momentarily distracted by how good Connor looked when he was concentrating. "Most people aren't werewolves. We aah... Well, not 'We' as a whole. Bred wolves feel it a bit stronger I think, but." Gavin shrugged, like it wasn't a big deal but he couldn't find the words to actually say it right away. It was a bit... awkward. "You know. We can get kind of possessive." 

Connor shifted in his seat again, this time so he could full on look at Gavin from the passengers side of the car and Gavin swallowed a groan but couldn't hide his eye roll. Of course Connor would be interested in that. He could feel the stare as the wheels in Connor head turned trying to figure this one out. 

" _Really_. Is this like a mate thing or-" 

"No. _No_ its not - this isn't - that's stupid bullshit fiction. What are you, 12 reading weird fucken romance books? God can we not get into this? It's just a thing, it's nothing crazy, and I'm gonna start driving now." 

"Detective," You could hear the amusment in Connors voice as he leaned against the passengers door, just watching, eyes bright. "do you even know where we're going?"

Gavin stopped the car as soon as it started moving because no. He had a home address for Tyler Morgan, but he hadn't looked at it yet, because he'd been distracted. Connor held out his hand and Gavin handed him his unlocked phone with another annoyed eye roll and Connor kept smiling while he looked up the information. Cheeky shit little shit. 

°°°°°°

The address they pulled up to was a three story house that had been split into three apartments. The house itself looked a bit on the rough side, as if regular upkeep wasn't something the landlords understood. The siding was faded, the paint around the windows was chipping and the screen door stood open, swinging whenever a strong breeze brushed through the porch. There was a staircase off to the side that lead up to the top floor apartment, and a second door on the porch that probably lead to the second floor, but they were interested in apartment One, which looked like it took up the full main floor of the house. 

The steps up to the porch creaked at the sudden weight of two people, and Gavin pushed the broken screen door out of his way as they approached the door. They didn't have a warrent yet, but Connor had sent in the paperwork on their way over. It would take time to get, but Gavin was hoping there was someone around who'd just let them in without the paperwork. Though, judging by the neighbourhood, it was a good guess that they wouldn't be getting anywhere without an official warrant. 

"Can I help you folks?" the voice came from the other end of the porch, and Gavin followed Connor around the corner to where an old woman was sitting comfortably in a decaying wooden porch swing, a thick wool blanket on her lap. She didn't look at them, just kept watching the slow traffic go by. 

She smelt old; musty, like moth balls, stale fabric softener and dust and there wasn't anything threatening about her at all from what Gavin could tell, except that she lived here, with an obviously troubled werewolf. 

Connor smiled at her in that none threatening, pleasant way of his that had people trusting him immediately. "Hello. We're looking for a Mr. Tyler Morgan. Does he live here?" 

"Yes. He's a good boy. Helps me with my groceries." finally, the woman glanced their way, her eyes looking between them before they settled on Connor. "At least he used to. How much trouble has he gotten himself into?" 

"Enough." Connors smile turned a little sheepish, like he was embarrassed to admit that to the old woman. 

She sighed, like the news wasn't surprising to her. "It's too bad. Tyler was always good to me when I needed help and most don't bother with an old woman, you know? He was quiet, and kept to himself mostly. Something was always bothering him though, and I never knew what because he never complained." shaking her head a little, Gavin watched the woman slowly pull herself out of the swing, wincing when her knees bent and cracked but she managed without help. "Do you boys have a warrant?" 

Gavin raised an eyebrow, but he wasn't going to ask her how she knew they were cops. "Do we need one?" 

"I suppose not." the woman slowly meandered up to them, both her hands reaching out when she was close enough to them, grabbing onto Connors left hand, and barely brushing her fingers against Gavin's right before pulling her hand away. She kept a tight grip on Connors hand, but made a point of looking Gavin over a bit better than she had before. "Hm. _You_ might just find something. He was like you, you know. Never said it to me but I could tell." 

Gavin couldn't help but frown, watching the old woman walk with Connor towards the door to apartment One, not letting the young detective go while they moved. There weren't too many people that could tell the difference between humans and werewolves just by touch. It was easy enough to do as Connor had figured out earlier that day, but not many people made the connection. Body temperature wasn't exactly something people noticed. 

He followed behind, curious why this old lady could pick out a werewolf by touch. She was old enough that she should have some strong prejudices against them, or she was too old to really care anymore. It didn't matter really, and it had nothing to do with their investigation, but it didn't stop Gavin from being curious. 

By the time they reached the door to apartment One, the woman had just finished telling Connor how Tyler hadn't just helped her get groceries, but about how he was always around to help her fix things around the house. She made Tyler out to be a decent guy, which was a contrast to the image of him they were trying to piece together. 

"Did he ever bring around a little girl?" 

"Little Amber? She's such a sweet child." the woman leaned forward, one hand reaching out for the letter flap in the door and sure enough, there was a magnetic key box stuck to the inside of the flap. "She isn't involved in this, is she? Why, Tyler tried so hard for that girl. He never said anything to me but I've seen my fair share of problems to know what was going on." 

Connor helped her with the box when she handed it to him, and for a brief moment he made eye contact with Gavin. "What was your name, mrs...?"

"Ethel Gaunt. Most just call me Nana Edie." 

"Well, it's a pleasure, Nana Edie. We appreciate your help here." Connor passed the key to the old woman when he finally got it out of the box and they both watched while she worked at unlocking the door. "What sort of problems did you think Tyler was having?" 

She pushed open the door and it creaked loudly, like it hadn't been opened in a while, but she didn't take a step into the apartment. "You know. Woman problems. Little Amber's mom. She was causing trouble for poor Tyler, taking his time with Amber away from him. He loves that girl too much to have to go through that." sighing, like just the thought was exhausting, Nana Edie waved towards the open door, finally letting go of Connors hand. "It's all yours." 

The old woman stepped aside, giving Gavin room to poke his head just inside the threshold of the door and what met him was a stale smell, as if the door and windows hadn't been opened in a while. "When was the last time Tyler showed up here?" it didn't smell like the guy had been around for a while, or at least, stayed long enough to want to air out the place. With a nose as acute as a werewolfs, Gavin doubted Tyler could sit comfortably with the house smelling like this for more than an hour. 

"Oh..." she was quiet for a second, thinking over the question or counting back the days. "probably a few days at the least. Maybe a week. He always stops by when he's home but the last little while he hasn't." 

Gavin nodded, pulling Connor back by the arm before his partner could step inside the apartment without him. "Thank you, Mrs. Gaunt." he watched the old woman nod as she left, already heading back down the porch to her swing. Finally, he let go of Connor and followed him inside one step at a time.

It was dark in the apartment, windows covered in thick blankets to keep the light out and most of the bulbs in the various light fixtures had been taken out. Gavin tried a few of the switches on the wall until finally one worked, a faint light coming from the kitchen. He followed behind Connor as they headed to the kitchen, and still the house just smelled stale. There wasn't anything sinister in the smell, it wasn't even bad perse just... Irritating to his nose. Connor had his phone out, using it as a flashlight as they moved through the house, but there wasn't much to see. Whatever furniture was inside the apartment was old and well used but clean - a couch up against the wall, kitchen table and a few chairs. An old tv on a dresser and a few pillows piled on the floor. There were dishes in the sink, but they weren't dirty. 

Tyler had definitely been around recently, and although the house was worn down and his stuff was old and used, he kept the place clean and organized. 

"He was trying." 

"Mmhmm." Gavin stopped his searching when he spied a calendar nailed to the kitchen wall. It was on this month, and the days up to a few days ago were exed out. It had notes written in a lot of the slots; Moon phases for the month, specific days for grocery shopping. It looked like Amber had a school play at the end of the month and Tyler had made a point of circling the date a few times so he wouldn't forget. He'd put a note for the 25th about a pack meeting, which only made Gavin frown. He went to those, too, but couldn't remember seeing Tyler there. 

"What?" Connor sided up to him, looking over the calendar before he took a photo with his phone. "this doesn't fit. He seems like a normal guy." Connor used his phone to lift up the current calendar page so they could peak at next month and as expected, there were things written there too. Plans and promises Tyler had made. Specific days where he'd planned to visit Amber after school, and those days coincided with the absenteeism records in Amber's files, if Gavin was remembering the dates right. Visiting Amber at school was a ritual for Tyler. "I don't think he planned for this to happen."

"Yeah, but you saw Wallace's body. You don't just _do_ that. It isn't a spur of the moment kind of thing." again, they were missing something huge because Connor was right. From what they'd seen in the house, Tyler didn't seem like he was planning on murdering anyone. " _But._ he did keep going as if nothing fucking happened. This 'normal life' here could just be a part of his crazy delusion, you know?" 

Connor nodded, shining his light on the rest of the kitchen, brown eyes scrutinizing the dark shadows in the room. "That's true. Do you smell anything?" 

Gavin huffed bitterly at the question. "I'm not supposed to do that. That's what we got fucken dogs for." 

"Unfortunately," Connor sighed, clearly annoyed with that answer, which just made Gavin smile. "we don't have the luxury of having a k-9 officer with us so I defer to your other senses." 

"Nothing." Gavin was still smiling. "It's stale, dusty. I don't even smell him, meaning he hasn't been here for at least a day or two." he wandered over to the fridge and nudged open the door with his boot but even the fridge was void of anything. Nothing inside was rotting or smelled expired. There was a loaf of bread, some butter, a jug of juice, some ketchup in the door. "Nothing at all." 

Connor hummed, starting out of the kitchen into the rest of the apartment while Gavin turned his attention to the pantry and broom closet, careful not to touch anything. Both were about as empty as he expected and from the frustrated sigh behind him Connor wasn't having better luck. 

"What about the basement? I saw windows when we were coming up to the place." 

"Might as well have a look." what did they have to lose anyway except their time. It was a matter of finding the right door - the first one Gavin opened lead to the bathroom, and he almost missed it, half closing the door at the sight of the clean, bleach smelling room before he hesitated. 

Opening the door again, Gavin stood in front of the small sink, medicine cabinet half open but he was more interested in the half full garbage bin between the sink and toilet. Using the sleeve of his jacket as a make-shift glove, Gavin pulled a wrapped syringe out of the trash. It hadn't been opened or used, the needle hadn't even been attached yet. Gavin hadn't seen anything that you'd need a needle for anywhere in the house, and there wasn't anything in Tyler's medical history that required any sort of injection. So what did Tyler need a needle for? 

"Connor?" 

Gavin's stomach rolled uncomfortably all of a sudden and the tiny hairs at the back of his neck stood on end. He had a really bad feeling about this. 

"Found it! Are you coming?" 

Dropping the syringe in the sink, Gavin was out of the bathroom as quick as he could go and he was down the hall, barely making it in time to grab onto Connors arm and drag him backwards before his partner fell forward down the stairs that weren't there. It was a split second before Connor sagged back against Gavin, laughing nervously, completely aware of what could have just happened to him had he taken that step forward. "The stairs-" 

Whatever Connor was saying, Gavin wasn't listening anymore. His nose had found its way into Connors hair before he even realized he was doing it; he couldn't stop himself from taking advantage of their sudden proximity. The weight of Connor leaning against him felt good and right and Gavin was tracing his nose up behind Connors ear, back up into his hair and inhaling deep that intoxicating mix of honey and the lavender soap Connor used. There was so much depth to such a simple smell and no matter how close he got he couldn't pin point every inch of scent that touched his nose. It was absolutely _overpowering_ this close, and it made Gavin's knees weak, his chest ache, and his jeans tighter than they should be. It has hard to explain the jumbled mix of things that swarmed his head when he had his nose burried in Connors hair like this. 

It was only when Connor froze up did it click into Gavin's brain just what he was doing.

_What the fuck was he doing._


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Detectives investigate  
> Detectives argue  
> Detective pets a good doggo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have this new chapter to help celebrate my day of birth (ok its the 28th this is early)
> 
> I'm really hoping y'all are still enjoying this fic because I'm still in love with it! 
> 
> Every time you give kudos, comment, like or share, I cry because you guys are the absolute best and I'm only here creating content because you make it worth it for me to keep going!  
> So thank you so much for being here and being supportive and just being you! This fandom wouldn't be half as good as it is without you! 
> 
> Anyways here's some woof Gavin hope you like it!

Gavin took an immediate step backwards, brain running a mile a minute trying to figure out not just what the fuck he was doing right now, but what he was supposed to say to explain himself for doing the weird shit he was doing. He had absolutely no words, which was really fucking _frustrating_. Even with a few paces between them now, Connor didn't move an inch from where he stood - a common reaction when faced with a _wild animal_ and it set Gavin off. 

"Be more fucken careful! What the fuck would I tell Anderson if I had to bring your ass back to the station with a concussion, or worse? He already hates my fucken guts, don't give him more reason to." Gavin huffed; irritated, annoyed. All of the above and mostly centered on himself and it was fuel enough to keep ranting, masking just how uncomfortable he suddenly was in his own skin. "Look with your god damn eyes, Connor. Fuck." 

"Yeah. Yes. Sorry I didn't think-" Connor stuttered, trying to come up with something to say in his defence but he was moving, stepping farther away from the edge where the staircase should have started, his hands fidgeting with his cellphone. "I didn't think an entire set of stairs would be missing." 

Gavin snorted. He needed a minute to get ahold of himself before he did something stupid, again, and observing the darkness in the basement was a good enough opportunity to not only catch his breath, but focus his thoughts. Gavin leaned a shoulder against the doorframe and used the flashlight on hisown phone to peer down into the dark basement. Breath in slowly, and not through the nose. 

There wasn't much to see from up where he stood on the main floor, and just like the rest of the apartment, flicking the lightswitch on the wall beside the door didn't work. The bulbs had probably been removed to keep the place dark just like the living room and kitchen, though Gavin had no idea why that was. If they wanted to figure out what was down there, they'd have to find a way to actually get down an entire flight of missing stairs, and even then, not knowing what state the basement was in was dangerous. 

"What do you think?" Gavin's voice was less hostile this time, mostly because he felt a little bad about snapping at Connor for something the other Detective hadn't done. 

Connor looked as if he'd recovered enough from the near tumble and he stepped up to the edge of the doorway, peering down into the basement the same way Gavin had just done and even with both lights shining down, there wasn't much to see. "We have to get down there. I'll call-" 

"-Wait, wait." Gavin instantly bristled. 

"I'm going to call for backup." Connor practically over enunciated his words to get his point across and he didn't leave room to argue. "We've gotten in trouble once already today because of this exact reason, Detective." 

That wasn't going to work and even as final as Connors statement was, Gavin was gonna argue anyways. "You're jumping the gun. We don't even know what's down there yet. Could be nothing, then what? We look like idiots." 

Connor pointed his phone down at the gaping dark hole that was the basement like he was trying to make a point. "And if we jump down there and can't get back up? I doubt there's a secondary entrance to the building in the basement, and _I_ certainly can't scale walls." 

"Well, I can't fuckin' scale walls either. _Detective_ , but." how did you explain gut feelings without sounding absolutely fucken crazy? "Just _trust me_."

"I trusted you three hours ago and all it got me was a lecture on my first day about how I _shouldn't_ trust you." 

"But was I wrong?" 

Gavin waited while Connor stared him down for a full minute before he finally sighed. "No. You were not." this time, Connor groaned as if he was coming to the realization that saying no to Gavin and his _'good'_ ideas was an almost impossible feat. "Why do I keep doing this to myself." Connor mumbled, before waving his phone towards the basement again. "How do you suggest we get down there? _Safely_ , Detective." 

"Jump." Obviously. 

" _Gavin._ " 

Except Gavin wasn't listening anymore. He shoved his phone into his back pocket for the time being and stood straight in the doorway peering down into the blackness. It probably wasn't his best idea ever, but there was definetly something in the basement even if he had no reason to believe that except a gut feeling. Who took a full flight of stairs out unless they were trying to hide something? It just didn't make sense. Standard ceiling heights were about eight feet, and Gavin could drop down pretty easily all things considered.

"It isn't that far down." Gavin crouched in the doorway, like he was waiting for the darkness to open up, nostrils flaring as he took a few deep inhales. If he ignored Connors scent, which was pretty fucking difficult to do, there was a stale undertone to the air coming out of the basement and... Something really faint. He couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was but it didn't trigger any kind of warning bells in his head. "Doesn't really smell dangerous down there either." and without waiting for Connor to reply or approve, Gavin dropping down into the basement, all or nothing, and his boots hit the cement floor hard. 

He couldn't see shit until he'd managed to get his phone out of his pocket and lit up the area, and even then there wasn't much to see. 

"Gavin! Are you-" 

"-It's _fine_ , Connor." the light from Gavin's phone bounced off the bare stone walls of the basement, but there were no signs of life that Gavin could see. Empty shelves against one wall that had only accumulated spider webs over time and not much else. A thick layer of dust covered pretty much anything that had a surface. "Are you coming down here or what?" 

A couple indistinct mumbles from the main floor had Gavin grinning before the telltale thud of a second pair of shoes hitting the hard ground. Gavin continued to circle the room slowly, frustration building quickly. Why was the basement empty? Why go to this much trouble to get rid of a full flight of stairs only to have _nothing_ to hide? 

Laying in a pile against one wall was the wood that had been the staircase. Dust and spider webs had made a home in the crevices, and the blanket of dust was enough evidence to say that the stairs had been removed a while ago and not touched since. This explained why no one had noticed the basement remodeling, Tyler hadn't gotten rid of the garbage wood. The question was, why all the fuss for nothing? Stale wood, dust, it wasn't even damp in the basement. He had to be missing something. 

"Gavin." 

Connor was across the basement, his phone flashlight focused on the wall and as Gavin approached, he understood why. There was a hole in the cement wall, and it was a big one. You could crawl into it, just barely by the looks of it. "Shit." Gavin knelt down in front of it, though not too close. The hole was... It had to be man made, there was no other way a hole this big and deep could get dug through stone and concrete without tools, but the claw scratches smoothing out the round edges of the hole told a different story. It looked like it had been dug out with big paws, and the tunnel went way past the foundation and out under the yard. There were old red stains against the cement too, like whoever did this (as if he didn't already know who) had hurt themselves a lot while doing it. 

"What _is_ that?" 

Gavin didn't want to get any closer to the opening to see what was further inside, but he could take a wild guess. This was some kind of a burrow. There was the faintest breeze coming through it too, carrying not just Tyler's scent, but something that tickled Gavin's nose in a way that made him extremely uncomfortable. It was all so faint though, hours old at least. Tyler had been here today, but wasn't anymore. A breeze also meant that there was a way topside from inside this tunnel. 

"It's..." he had to get in there, and just the thought made Gavin nervous. "a nest. A burrow." which was completely unnerving. "We don't..." he jestured towards the mess in the wall. "Do _this_. This is some insane fucking shit." Gavin rubbed at his jaw, hairs at the back of his neck standing on end. What the fuck. 

Did this have something to do with the syringe he'd found in the bathroom? Was it just some weird drug hallucinations that were making Tyler act like this? Gavin eyed the hole, the edges, the claw marks, the dirt and grass he could only barely see on the ground just inside the tunnel. No. This was long term, not some drug induced hysteria. Gavin had no fucking idea what this was. 

Connors voice started him. "I'm calling this in." 

"Connor, wait." 

"Give me _one_ good reason why I should. This is _serious_ , Gavin." 

Gavin finally pulled himself up off the ground, glancing back at his partner through the dark. Connor was not happy and Gavin didn't need proper lighting to tell. He wasn't exactly annoyed, but definetly not happy with their current situation, and why should he be? They were trapped in a basement with no obvious way out, with a weird hole in the wall that could mean pretty much anything. Whatever it was, there was no explanation available and that was scary shit. 

"I fucking know, okay? I want to go in there." 

" _Are you serious_?" The annoyed look on Connors face shifted so fast into confusion, then worry. "Of course you're serious. Why wouldn't you be. Its a big ominous hole in the wall, there could be _anything_ in there so obviously the first thing you should do is go inside." Connors hands reached up and he started rubbing circles against his temples. "This is what we have dogs for, Gavin."

"A dog won't be able to tell you what it smells. Come on, Connor. Trust me." 

Connor huffed, crossing his arms tight over his chest before finally nodding. "Again, I feel like I'm going to regret it, but okay. You win. How-" and before Connor could get another word in, Gavin tossed his jacket at him and the younger detective barely managed to catch it. "What-" 

"What?" Gavin un-clipped his shoulder-holster and shucked it off his shoulders, handing it over to his partner along with his badge, and Connor grabbed it from him obediently. "I'm not fucking crawling into that hole like this." he'd thought that would have been obvious. Gavin was halfway through pulling off his shirt when he paused to look at Connor, who'd been unusually quiet for the last few seconds. "What did you think I meant?" 

" _Detective._ " like opening the flood gates on a dam, Connor was suddenly quite aware of what exactly Gavin was doing and his protests echoed through the empty basement loudly. "You _can't_. Shifting in public is _illegal_! What are you even- you're going to get us both _fired._ " 

Even in the dark it was plain as day to see that Connor was suddenly very uncomfortable, and Gavin found it highly amusing. He wasn't sure what exactly was flustering his partner more - the fact that Gavin was getting undressed, or that he was breaking the law. Sort of. Not _really_. "Last I checked a basement wasn't considered 'public'." 

"This isn't _your_ basement its a crime scene?" the flustered shrill of Connors voice just made Gavin laugh as he unbuckled his belt. "You're seriously doing this." 

"Turn around if it bothers you."

"Bothers me? What _bothers_ me is that you're willingly going to crawl into a hole where I can't help if you need it, and you won't even be able to tell me if you _need_ help."

"Accurate." Gavin rolled his shoulders, anticipation buzzing through his system at just the idea of shifting. 

"Tyler's already taken you down once, Gavin. What if he's in there hiding? What if-" 

Gavin's wallet smacked Connor dead center on his forehead before falling into the growing pile of clothes he was holding. It served as an acceptable way to shut his partner up. "Could you not remind me? Fucken trust me a little here; the tunnels empty. The only thing I might run into are dust mites and fleas, which in my fucking opinion are worse." 

He kicked off his boots and pulled off his socks and when he looked up from hiding his socks in his boots, Connor had turned around completely, staring at the far wall which earned a short laugh from Gavin. He added the last bits of clothing to the pile Connor was still holding. "It'll be fine, Con." and he headed to the opposite corner of the basement, just to keep some courtesy distance between them. 

Shifting didn't take very long, maybe a full minute if you were slow and all it took was one concentrated desire to _change_. It was something that got easier, something that hurt less the more you did it and most did the shift _a lot_. Your body got used to rearranging its bones and organs, and registered less of the pain as time went on. The cracking and whining and uncomfortable groaning still made even the toughest men flinch - that was something Gavin had never gotten used to. It sounded sloppy to his own ears, the grinding of his own bones as they adjusted just under the skin. The stretching, snapping, and _itching_ and it felt all wrong for a long few seconds before everything started settling back into place, dark brown fur coating him from head to tail. 

It was over almost just as fast as it had started and Gavin shook out his newly grown fur, trying to get everything to settle a bit more comfortably. He stretched out his forepaws, nails scratching against the cement floor as he yawned wide, trying to loosen out his suddenly stiff jaw. 

"Gavin?" Connor hissed quietly, like he was afraid to raise his voice. It must have gotten too quiet because the other Detective had turned around, trying to see into the dark around him, arms too full of clothes to allow him to grab his phone for a light. 

Flicking his ears forward, Gavin glance left and right, eyeing the corners of the basement he hadn't really been able to see before. The darkness didn't bother him so much like this, and while he might not be able to see in full colour, at least he could see. When Connor shifted uncomfortably where he stood, Gavin's tail started swaying back and forth unprompted and he took the few steps towards his partner, eager to greet him all over again. If it was possible, Connor smelt even better now than he had before and whatever qualms Gavin had about sniffing him were gone. 

By the time Gavin had crossed the basement, Connor was kneeling, his armfull of clothes resting on his knees. He smiled and met Gavin half way with one hand, scratching it through the thick fur of his head as soon as his partner was close enough to touch, a soft laugh sounding through the quiet basement. "Well aren't you something else." Whatever argument or reservations the young detective had, they were momentarily forgotten and Gavin was thankful for that because Connors fingers in his fur felt really fucken nice, nice enough that he didn't even notice the satisfied groan that rolled out of him when his partner hit that one spot under his cheeks. 

Connor scratched his hand up and over the wolf's head and ears and farther down his back. Gavin stepped forward and almost knocked Connor onto his ass just trying to get his nose into every available peice of his partner. Even as a wolf with its better sense of smell he couldn't even begin to comprehend the complexity of this rediculous scent. Gavin huffed, his nose up underneath his partners jacket, nudging at his ribs, his stomach, he wasn't even sure what he was scenting at this point, just that it all smelled so much of Connor and he loved it. 

"Oh hey- enough of that!" Connor started pushing at the big wolf head as soon as Gavin's nose started dipping too low, forcing the Detective back and for a second, Gavin was confused. "Come on," Connor pushed Gavins muzzle away again as soon as he started trying to weasle his way back under his coat earning a whine from the Detective. "didn't you have something stupid and dangerous to do?"

Both of Gavin's ears perked up at the reminder of why he had even shifted in the first place and he straightened up with a loud huff, focusing on the back wall and the gaping hole there. Right, he'd almost forgotten about that. Connor had stood up by then, and Gavin glanced up at his partner before stepping carefully towards the hole.

The scents coming out of the tunnel though still faint, where much stronger like this, and there was enough to confirm that yeah, Tyler had definitely been here earlier. His scent was so ingrained into the dirt of the tunnel to also confirm that he spent a lot of time in there. The traces of blood around the edges of the tunnel didn't have a sent to them, which told Gavin that they'd dried a while ago, probably months. Whatever Tyler was doing to himself, he'd been doing for a long time. Inside, there wasn't anything wary to see at first glance. Dirt, sticks and leaves, and when he inhalled deep his ears flattened back against his head. Ugh, that was almost like throwing pepper at a dogs nose. Gavin snorted, his brain working through all the scents he knew to try and pinpoint what it was, but nothing came to mind. It was strong, distracting, and tinted in fear,

"Be careful, Gavin." 

A rumbled growl rolled from his chest at Connors words, tired of hearing them. Of course he was going to be fucking careful. Despite popular belief he did not, in fact, have a death wish, he just made rash, stupid decisions. He lowered himself to the ground slowly and started crawling forward into the hole. There wasn't much in the tunnel; it was wide enough that although tight, Gavin had no problems squeezing his body through. The tunnel itself was well used, the smooth dirt walls said as much. Someone came in and out of here often enough to smooth out the tunnel naturally. 

Every inch of movement got him closer to something - a den? Gavin had no idea, but he did know that that smell he couldn't figure out was getting stronger and it burned his nose in a way that was familiar but not. It was distracting, made him want to investigate it. 

A few more wiggles and the tunnel widened out into a bigger hole - the actual den. Blankets and other soft things lined the floor, clothing and dirty pillows scattered around, and there was a basket of food in one corner, fresh enough to have been brought here within the last day or so. Was Tyler living in this tiny cramped little hole? As a wolf, Gavin could move around enough inside the den that it didn't bother him very much, but as a person, it would get really claustrophobic really quick. He couldn't imagine living inside such a cramped space, even if he had no other choice. 

God, and what was that smell it was fucking everywhere and it was so strong and it-

Gavin froze, nostrils flaring before his nose touched the blankets on the ground, inhaling. He knew this. It was strong, tickled his brain in a way that was distracting but also intriguing. This was Connor. Well. _Not_ Connor, but the same basic idea. She had different undertones, but the raw scent had the same properties as Connors scent did.

Holly Turner had the same overwhelming scent pattern that Connor did, and now that he knew it, Gavin could smell it everywhere in this little hole. She'd been here since the murder, that much was certain. Tyler had trapped her here, but why? There wasn't any blood around, which meant that she wasn't hurt, at least, not while she'd been trapped in here. There was enough dirt around the den to insulate the sound if Holly had tried screaming for help, no one would have heard her. Panic had settled into Gavin's gut at the very idea that Holly and Connor had such a similar scent, and after today, Tyler knew that Connor smelt the same. Was it just a fluke that Holly shared the same kind of intense smell, or was that the point? Was Holly's scent the reason Tyler had gone fucking insane? Did it have something to do with it? Whatever the case was, Gavin had to get them both out of this building as soon as fucking possible. 

He'd gotten enough information from this hole for now anyway, and honestly he was starting to feel a bit sick sitting in the den like he was. Gavin crawled his way back through the tunnel slowly and with a huff, pulled his hunches free and gave himself a good shake to get the dirt and shit out of his fur. God it felt like he could breath again. 

As soon as he was done shaking out his coat, Gavin felt a hand digging into his fur and he watched Connor as he used his only free hand to feel over Gavin's body like he was looking for wounds he couldn't see in the darkness of the basement. "Are you okay? Did you find anything? That was two minutes are you sure you got what you needed?" Connors hand stopped at his partners head, scratching up behind his ears and Gavin's tongue lolled out of his maw, fully enjoying the treatment after what he'd just been through. "You like that, huh?" he didn't know if Connor wanted any answers, or if he was just asking to ask, but Gavin groaned anyway, half growling at the effect all this attention was having on him. 

The last person who'd really given him this much attention while he'd been shifted had been his brother as kids, and damn, Gavin honestly hadn't remembered what he was missing. Feeling Connors fingers scratching deep into his thick coat had to be the equivalent of some kinda spa massage or something, it was amazing. 

Connors hand left the spot behind his ears and he rubbed down Gavin's forehead and snout, pausing a moment and Gavin felt his partners fingers tracing down the pink scar across his muzzle. He watched for a few seconds before Connor pulled his hand away completely and Gavin was surprised at how disappointed that made him.

"Well? Do you plan to stay like that for the rest of the night, Detective?"

Huffing, Gavin stretched out his forepaws again before he dug his nose through the pile of clothes Connor was still holding, grabbing a mouthfull of his pants before heading off into the darkness. Shifting back was just as quick and painful as the first time, just as uncomfortable, except Gavin felt completely exhausted when it was done. He burned through a lot of energy shifting back and forth like that, especially in such a short amount of time. The basement was pitch black to his human eyes, and when he grabbed for his pants he put his hand right into a giant glob of drool, and no amount of cursing made it better. Fucking nasty, even if it _was_ his own. 

"Detective?" 

"Yeah yeah, gimme a sec." Gavin dressed in the first two layers, finally stepping back towards Connor while adjusting his belt. His boots should be nearby somewhere... It was quiet in the basement while Gavin searched for his boots, the light from the phone he'd left in his back pocket not doing much to help. He stopped when he found them, pulling on his socks one by one, then his boots, and the entire time Connor kept quiet, waiting. Gavin was doing it on purpose - he was trying to organize his thoughts enough to explain them, figure out what exactly he should omit from his explanation. Sometimes, it was hard to translate some of his own thoughts from wolf to human, and vice versa, so the extra couple of seconds helped. 

"So?" Connor sounded anxious, eager when he finally spoke. "what did you find?" 

With his boots on, Gavin stepped up to his partner and started picking at his clothes, tugging his shirt on first. "Well. He's been using that hole for at least a few months. It's definitely a den, which is really fucken unnerving. We're not animals, even the worst of us." Gavin paused from clipping on his shoulder holster, "there was an empty syringe in the bathroom, but I didn't find any traces of medicine or drugs in the den, and there wasn't anything else in the bathroom." 

Connor handed him his wallet, frowning through the darkness. "Could this be some kind of high?" he held out the last item of clothing and Gavin took it, shrugging on his jacket. "Something new?" 

"I don't think so. That kind of... I don't know, that doesn't fucking fit with what we've figure out so far. He's all over the God damn crazy map." 

"Yes, but -" 

"It isn't a fucking drug, Connor. I'd be able to smell it somewhere."

"Alright. What else?" 

Gavin hesitated, glancing back towards the hole in the wall. The panic he'd felt while inside the den when he'd realized that their missing woman had the same smell as Connor came rushing back. It was a fluke, it had to be. What was he supposed to tell Connor? 

"Gavin?" 

"He had Holly trapped in there since the murder, maybe before that, and he moved her not even two hours ago."

"Alive...?" 

"She was while she was in there. He didn't hurt her, at least there wasn't any traces of blood, but still. That's some kinda mental fucking trauma to go through." no, he'd avoid talking about Connors scent for now. Gavin wasn't even sure how he'd explain it to him, let alone how he'd react to it. Until they found Holly, Gavin doubted Connor would be in any kind of actual danger anyway. After all, this was all personal for Tyler, and Connor had no personal connection to him that Gavin knew of- Connor would have mentioned it when they'd been looking up Tyler's file. "Anyways, let's get out of here." 

"And how do we do that?" 

Gavin moved, taking the few steps to stand were the stairs would have been and stared up at the open door above them. "Well." really, it wasn't that high up. "I'll boost you up." 

Connor laughed, shaking his head. "Of course."

Thing was, Connor didn't sound like he believed him. "I'm serious. Come here, I'll give you a lift, and then you can help pull me up." 

"That's your big plan?" 

"Connor _we can't fit through the fucking basement windows_ , so what do you think? What's your brilliant idea to get us outta here?" 

"Backup. They'll bring a ladder." 

Gavin rolled his eyes. He wasn't going to stay down in the dark waiting for someone to come save him. The last thing he needed was to give more fuel to Lt. Asshole on just how fucking incompetent he was. "Just get the fuck over here before I decide to leave you behind." He watched Connor hesitate, but it wasn't long until he gave in. 

Hoisting Connor up to the first floor from the basement wasnt as easy as Gavin had originally thought. It wasn't that Connor was heavy, it was just that... Well, he was heavy. He'd managed to get his partner up far enough so that he could grab the floor of the doorway, and started a slow shimmy forward. Gavin stood up on his toes, trying to push him up farther, both hands on an ass that he didn't expect to touch so soon. And fuck if Connor didn't have a nice ass. After a bit of struggling, Connor was up and standing and Gavin was out of breath. He really didn't have the energy for this kind of shit right now, right after his shift. Fuck. Who's idea was this? 

"Okay," Gavin huffed, reaching up with one arm. "help pull me up."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank y'all for reading! You're the greatest!  
> Send kudos and comments if ya enjoyed, I live hearing from you!   
> Feel free to message me in Tumblr, though I'm an awkward turd so that might backfire.

**Author's Note:**

> Please jump on over to Tumblr and give [Shootmewithasilverbullet](https://shootmewithasilverbullet.tumblr.com/)!  
> a follow for fic updates/DBH content + a shit load of other stuff.
> 
> Thanks so much, again, for reading!


End file.
